Dog's Bark Saves 67 Lives As Monsoon Wipes Out Village In Himachal's Mandi
As monsoon rains continue to batter Himachal Pradesh, triggering landslides, flash floods, and cloudbursts, a timely bark from a village dog in Mandi district raised alarm, enabling 67 people from 20 families to escape just in time.
On June 30, between midnight and 1 am, the village of Siyathi in the Dharampur area of Mandi was reduced to rubble.
A Siyathi resident, Narendra, said the dog sleeping on the second floor of his house suddenly started barking loudly and then howling around midnight, as the rain kept pouring.
"I woke up from the barking. As I went to him, I saw a big crack in the wall of the house and water had started to enter. I ran downstairs with the dog and woke everyone up," Narendra said.
Narendra then woke up other people in the village and asked them to run to safety. Such was the rain, that people left everything behind for shelter. Shortly after, the village was hit by a landslide and nearly a dozen houses were flattened. Only four-five houses are now visible in the village; the rest are under the landslide debris.
The survivors are now taking shelter in the Naina Devi temple built in Triyambala village for the past seven days. Meanwhile, several villagers are suffering from blood pressure and depression due to the tragedy.
Following the tragedy, the people of other villages extended help and the government is giving Rs 10,000 as aid.
At least 78 people have died in Himachal Pradesh since the onset of monsoon on June 20 - out of which 50 people died in rain-related incidents such as landslides, flash floods, and cloudbursts, while 28 deaths were reported in road accidents, the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) said.
The heavy downpour has caused massive disaster, with the state reporting 23 flash floods, followed by 19 cloudburst incidents and 16 landslides so far.
Mandi district, severely impacted by cloudbursts, flash floods, and landslides, saw the highest number of deaths. The flash floods have sent 280 roads, including 156 in Mandi, out of bounds for traffic.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a flash flood alert in 10 districts on Monday.
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