The southwest monsoon crossed the finish line early this year, sweeping across India by Sunday — nine days ahead of its usual July 8 date, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
Its breakneck pace has already left a trail of flooded valleys, blocked highways and broken rail lines, especially in the hills.
Himachal Pradesh: Valleys under siege
Few states have felt the punch as sharply as Himachal Pradesh. In the Kullu valley, three cloudbursts in 24 hours between June 24 and June 25 swept away three residents of Rehla Bihal who had returned home to salvage belongings. Flash floods also hit Manali and Banjar subdivisions, Kullu additional deputy commissioner Ashwani Kumar confirmed.
In Banjar, a bridge in Hornagad vanished under the torrent, floodwater spilled into a government school, and farms and a cowshed were damaged. The Shimla Meteorological Centre issued a “red alert” for ten districts, while the Shimla‑Kalka rail line shut after trees and boulders rolled onto the tracks. In Solan district, a bridge on the road to the Himuda Complex in Barotiwala was washed away, sealing off Mandhala and Bagguwala.
Early deluge, wider fallout
The monsoon’s sprint has soaked both coasts and the centre, filling rivers and flooding low‑lying stretches from Odisha to Gujarat. The IMD projects heavy to very heavy rain across northwest, central, east and northeast India over the next week, with isolated extremely heavy falls likely in Jharkhand and Odisha.
Meteorologists are watching a low‑pressure area over the northwest Bay of Bengal that is drifting inland across North Odisha, Gangetic West Bengal and Jharkhand — one more trigger for the showers.
Northeast: Rail lines and riverbanks tested
Landslides in the Lumding‑Badarpur hill section snapped rail links to Tripura, Manipur, Mizoram and southern Assam for six days; partial service resumed on Sunday, the Northeast Frontier Railway said.
The Brahmaputra has been inching up for days, submerging about 100 hectares of cropland in Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Majuli and Kamrup. Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Sikkim chief minister Prem Singh Tamang and Manipur Governor Ajay Bhalla to review the flood response on Sunday.
In Meghalaya, two deaths and three injuries were reported after landslide and drowning incidents on Friday, the state’s Revenue and Disaster Management department said, adding that district officials have been told to release an ex‑gratia of Rs 4 lakh to the families of the deceased, reported Meghalaya Monitor.