Himachal Pradesh Rains: Recurring Landslides, Flash Floods Leave Farmers Devastated

In June, Manoj Kumar, 45, who lives in Khunagi, a small village in Seraj Valley in Himachal, was preparing to market his fresh harvest of vibrant flowers. He was hoping to get a good return. However, the intervening night of June 30 and July 1, shattered his dreams when, following exceptionally heavy rainfall, massive floods and landslides devastated a large part of the Seraj region. The natural calamity affected over 50,000 people and caused significant damages to infrastructure.

As per an assessment released by the Himalaya Niti Abhiyan (HNA)—a collective of grassroot people’s resistance defending local livelihoods, environment and social equity— several people lost their lives, sustained injuries and are reported to be missing. About 622 houses and 350 cowsheds/shelters have been completely destroyed, while 150 houses have been partially damaged. Thousands of bighas of agricultural land and apple orchards of farmers have been destroyed, as have been many polyhouses, used for growing flowers, reported the HNA.

Flash floods, in all their ferocity, washed down rock boulders and thick layers of sand and gravel, which stand as evidence of nature’s devastation. “On the morning of July 1, Seraj was unrecognisable. The fury of relentless rains and cloudbursts—reported to be seven to nine in a single night—wiped out houses, swept away cultivable land, orchards and cash crops, washed away roads, snapped connectivity of Seraj and left a trail of deaths and devastation that no one had seen before,” Manoj recounts.

It's been a couple of weeks since the tragedy. While the affected people are trying to rebuild their lives, homes and infrastructure, for farmers like Manoj, the loss has been more long-term.

Manoj was just beginning to recover from the severe blow that Covid-19 dealt to his once-thriving floriculture venture, which he started in 2017-18. It was a pioneering initiative in the otherwise barren, idle, and rugged soil; his forefathers had mostly struggled to make a living. Traditional crops likemaize, barley, pulses, and potatoes, grown in this poverty-stricken belt, barely sustained them. Some families also practiced seasonal migrations for livelihood needs.

Determined to break this cycle of hardship, Manoj, like many other young farmers, turned to floriculture, cultivating carnations and other high-value flowers, and also growing apples—a symbol of hope that promised to transform the local hill economy, which lay shattered.

The Seraj tragedy wiped out his crop as well as the very land where his crops once stood in full colour. To raise a high-yield crop of carnations, gladiolus, lilies, and other flowers, Manoj invested Rs 2.5 to three lakh and also received a government subsidy. Last year, he imported bulbs from Holland. His turnover in 2020, before the Covid-19 crisis, crossed Rs five lakh from the seven polyhouses he owned.

Hit hard by nature’s fury, he sees little hope of revival. “Everything is gone. Nothing is left to bank on,” a distressed Manoj says.

Nearly 500 other families share a similar fate. Many families had turned to horticulture and floriculture after Seraj experienced a surge in development and connectivity during the chief ministerial tenure of Jai Ram Thakur, also a six-time MLA from the area. During his tenure, many key government offices opened in the region, several new projects were initiated and a large number of institutions—including a horticulture college—were inaugurated. However, the single calamity appears to have reversed all the progress.

The rain-related losses are not limited to Seraj alone. While Jai Ram Thakur, the Leader of the Opposition in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly, claims that out of the total loss of Rs 1,235 crore that the state has suffered due to natural calamities, Seraj alone suffered losses to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore. Kullu, Kangra, Mandi, Chamba and Shimla are other districts in the state—where 90 per cent of the rural population is dependent on agriculture and horticulture crops for survival—that are impacted by weather vagaries.

In Kangra, the state’s largest district bordering Punjab, 10,000 hectares of crops got submerged and washed away after water levels in the Pong Dam rose significantly, prompting the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) to release water after relentless rains and cloudbursts. The rising river water inflow, coupled with spillway discharges, led to flooding downstream along the Beas River.

The areas affected include Fatehpur and Indora constituencies, prompting Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu to order lodging of an FIR against the BBMB. In the process, several crops, including maize, paddy, ragi, millets, Kharif pulses and cash crops like ginger, potatoes and oil seeds got damaged.

“Commercial crops and cereals have been damaged due to relentless rains and water discharge from the Pong Dam, built on the Beas River. Several areas are still cut off due to waterlogging. The deluge has eroded the topsoil and washed away cultivated top layers. Raising new crops will be a big issue now for the farmers,” says Malender Rajan, Congress MLA from Indora.

In neighbouring Fatehpur, hundreds of hectares of farmland with standing crops are submerged in floodwater. Local MLA Bhawani Singh Pathania blames the BBMB and illegal mining for crop damage in 17 panchayats.

In Kangra, the state’s largest district bordering Punjab, 10,000 hectares of crops got submerged and washed away after water levels in the Pong Dam rose significantly, prompting the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) to release water after relentless rains and cloudbursts. The rising river water inflow, coupled with spillway discharges, led to flooding downstream along the Beas River. The areas affected include Fatehpur and Indora constituencies, prompting Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu to order lodging of an FIR against the BBMB. In the process, several crops, including maize, paddy, ragi, millets, Kharif pulses and cash crops like ginger, potatoes and oil seeds got damaged.

“Commercial crops and cereals have been damaged due to relentless rains and water discharge from the Pong Dam, built on the Beas River. Several areas are still cut off due to waterlogging. The deluge has eroded the topsoil and washed away cultivated top layers. Raising new crops will be a big issue now for the farmers,” says Malender Rajan, Congress MLA from Indora.

In neighbouring Fatehpur, hundreds of hectares of farmland with standing crops are submerged in floodwater. Local MLA Bhawani Singh Pathania blames the BBMB and illegal mining for crop damage in 17 panchayats.

As per rough estimates, the apple economy of the state is expected to suffer a loss of Rs 2,000 crore due to the monsoon crisis this year. The apple industry in Himachal Pradesh is worth Rs 5000 crore, almost 20 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). It remains the backbone of more than 1.5 lakh families that are directly involved in apple cultivation.

According to Prem Sharma, 70, an orchardist at Raison, Kullu, the situation has become doubly challenging for fruit growers. Sharma, who is also affected by the landslides and substantial rain damage to his orchard, says this is the first time in his life that he has witnessed such a terrible crisis all across the state—Kullu and Mandi being the epicentres.

Old-timers admit that changes in the weather pattern are the biggest reason for devastating floods, torrential rain, and extreme climate events. For example, August 2025 has proved to be the wettest month in 76 years in Himachal Pradesh’s history. The cloudbursts—a rare happening, once or twice, in the monsoon—have become quite a common event. The areas most affected are Kullu, Mandi, Chamba, Kangra, Kinnaur, and Shimla.

As per Surjit Singh Randhawa, former principal scientist at HP Council for Science and Technology: “Cloudbursts in the Himalayan region, especially Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, and Himachal Pradesh, are a growing concern. Their impacts on the human population (fatalities), physical infrastructure, agriculture, and livelihoods are enormous and unpredictable. The reasons are largely attributable to climate change and rising temperatures. Reports say in this monsoon alone we have had 45 cloudbursts.”

The rain data released by the Shimla centre of the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) reveals that August 2025 recorded 431.3 mm of rainfall, the ninth highest since 1901, against the relatively stable 2022–2024, which was between 244 and 248 mm. During 2012, the figures stood at a much lower side, i.e., 173.3 mm.

Overall, Himachal Pradesh has received 68 per cent excess rain as compared to 2024, when the state recorded a five per cent rain deficit, and a low of 36 per cent rain deficit in 2021. In 2023 and 2022, Himachal Pradesh had recorded a four per cent deficit in monsoon rains.

Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri says natural calamities in the past three years have severely impacted the hills, causing a loss of Rs 20,000 crore. He also attributes the primary cause to climate change and global warming, but acknowledges the urgent need to reevaluate the current development model, particularly the large infrastructure projects and construction activities along riverbeds, towns, and highways.