Emergency workers from the national and state disaster response forces are playing a critical role in relief and rescue operations across north India, where incessant rainfall in the last three days has led to chaos, claiming at least 19 lives. A recent video from Himachal Pradesh, where the Chief Minister has appealed to people to stay indoors for the next 24 hours, showed NDRF men zip-lining across a raging river to rescue stranded people.
Visuals from the Beas River near Nagwayin village of the hill state's Mandi district showed a daring late-night rescue operation, where a man can be seen holding on to the cable while NDRF personnel pull him across the river through the zip-line to public applause.
The 14th Battalion of the NDRF was reportedly involved in the operation.
Worrying visuals shared on social media have shown vehicles floating in the deluge, houses and bridges collapsing, and muddy water entering residential areas.
The weather department has predicted more downpour for Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Delhi and its adjoining areas over the next couple of days.
The IMD said an interaction between a western disturbance and monsoonal winds is leading to an intense rainfall spell over northwest India.
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