How Did A Dog’s Barking Save 67 Lives In The Himachal Landslide?

Some stories don’t begin with sirens or headlines. Sometimes, they start simply with a bark–a desperate call in the dark. Just past midnight on June 30, in Siyathi, a quiet village in Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi district, only a dog sensed what was coming. While the residents slept, another landslide was silently bearing down on them, but the furry animal saved them all. Here’s what happened. 

Dog Saves Lives In Himachal Pradesh

Upstairs in a modest home in Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi district, a dog began barking furiously. It sounded like a full-bodied, frantic alarm. Narendra, the man sleeping downstairs, woke up at his loud barks. He rushed upstairs and saw a crack in the wall. It appeared like a long crack carved across the wall, with water creeping in there.

According to an NDTV report, he didn’t stop to think. He immediately ran outside with the dog, banging on doors, shouting, pulling people from sleep. 70 people lived in that stretch of homes—men, women, and children—most of whom rushed out at the frantic yell of the man. Around 67 people made it out alive, and minutes later, the land behind their homes gave way, pulling everything into the melting earth. Apart from 4-5 houses, everything had been swept away and became debris. And that’s how the little dog came to the people’s rescue in this Himachal landslide.

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Himachal Pradesh Monsoon Upheaval

The survivors gathered at the Naina Devi temple in Triyambala, a nearby village. That is where they are still staying. According to NDTV, local officials offered a temporary relief sum of ₹10,000 per family. The villagers had no insurance, no early warning systems and no Plan B. What they had, as it turns out, was a dog who refused to sleep through the storm! 

This one episode sits in the middle of a larger disaster unfolding across Himachal Pradesh. Since June 20, the state has seen 78 people killed: 50 from monsoon-linked disasters like landslides and flash floods, and 28 from road accidents caused by waterlogged, broken highways. There have been 23 flash floods, 19 cloudbursts, and 16 landslides in just a few weeks.

Also Read: Himachal Pradesh Monsoon Mayhem: Death Toll Reaches 78; 30+ Still Missing

The scale of it is staggering. But in a monsoon that claimed lives and homes all over the state, this four-legged sentinel gave a small village the rarest thing of all: a second chance.

Cover Image Courtesy: Johann/CanvaPro