That sinking feeling
Once among the most remote and underdeveloped areas in Mandi district, Seraj block saw a massive infrastructure push in the past decade. Now, it is confronting the perils of prosperity and fiddling with nature — large-scale destruction caused by extreme weather events, as the development-ecology imbalance wreaks havoc in Himachal Pradesh
Updated At : 06:29 AM Jul 20, 2025 IST
In Bung Rail Chowk area of Thunag, farmlands have vanished, many houses are buried under flood debris or are now unsafe for living. Photo by the writer
JUNE 30 was a typical rainy day in the monsoons at Seraj valley in Mandi district. After working hard on their farms and daily chores, people in the villages had retired for the day. But two hours before midnight, a thunderous downpour transformed virtually every gurgling nullah in the region into jarring landslips and flash floods, bringing down giant boulders. People ran out of their homes, while some remained huddled in their houses, or on the roadside, or in any safe shelter they could find. The elderly and differently-abled were carried on backs to safety. Some brave souls picked up spades and shovelled relentlessly through the night, digging drainage paths to salvage a field here, a cowshed there — to save their cattle.
