How the monsoon upset Himachal's applecart

livemint.com:

Shimla: July-August 2023 is a period Girish Minocha would dearly like to forget. But each day, he continues to experience the impact of the tragedy that played out in Himachal Pradesh during those two months after the state was battered by heavy rains. Minocha is the chief executive officer of Minchy’s Food Products, a Shoghi-based company that processes apple juice, apple cider vinegar, jams and marmalades, among other items.

Minchy’s Food Products, like many other apple processing companies, was hit badly by the rains. Minocha shared a mobile phone video, shot sometime in August, with Mint. The camera panned the slopes, which were dotted with rocks and uprooted trees, and finally focused on the Minchy’s plant, located by the hill.

A tree had fallen on the facility, piercing its metal ceiling and cracking it open. The godown was flooded with landslide debris. The non-existent roads also meant staff could not make their way to the plant and Minocha was forced to shut it.

The havoc had begun a month earlier, in July. The state received heavy rainfall, which continued for at least seven weeks, causing flash floods and landslides, and leading to widespread destruction. “We shut production as supply routes were closed due to landslides," said Minocha.

After the heavy rains on 9-11 July, 868 roads, including national highways, state highways and interior roads, were damaged and approximately 18,000km of roads and 172 bridges still need repairing, for which the government requires over ₹2,500 crore, as per the State Disaster Management Authority’s report, dated 5 October. Former officials say it would take three-four months more to restore the roads or complete repairs. The rains have ended, but the aftermath of the