THUNAG/ MANDI/SHIMLA, JULY 3:
It wasn’t just the rains – it was a catastrophe waiting to happen.
Over 500 students and faculty members, including two pregnant women, of the Government Horticulture College in Thunag (Seraj) survived a 72-hour nightmare, stranded after cloudbursts and landslides on the night of June 30.
Their eventual safe exit to Bagshaid – the nearest motorhead – wasn’t thanks to any swift rescue but sheer luck and local support.
Dr. Shivani, a faculty member of the college, posted a tearful video on social media that has gone viral, revealing the sheer scale of human negligence.
“We were not rescued. We survived because we were lucky. There were no lights, no signals, no roads, and no food. Children were crying, scattered in panic. Two girls who were pregnant had labour pains and were carried on shoulders by fellow students,” she says.
In her emotional account, she recounts how entire faculty families, students, and even children in nearby homes were trapped in buildings all night.
“Many of our cars, bikes were washed away. Documents, clothes, everything gone. Our rooms flooded. Some of us broke walls to pull each other out,” she says.
Eyewitnesses say it wasn’t until July 2 that motorable road connectivity was partially restored. Meanwhile, students took shelter in nearby villages.
“There was no response from the administration initially. We lived on leftover rations. Aerial photos made families believe we were dead. Parents are still panicking,” says Dr. Shivani.
A second teacher said, “A scientist in our college, Dr. Kalpana, and her family were almost buried alive. Had the water risen a few feet more, we’d be counting dead bodies. Most of our junior students – freshers – were the worst hit. They didn’t even understand what to do.”
Dr. Shivani has appealed to Dr YS Parmar University, Nauni – to which the college is affiliated – to arrange for immediate evacuation and support for the traumatised students.
“Please, tag this video to university officials. Let them know their students are starving, walking barefoot, wounded with glass cuts. We’ve survived, but at what cost?” she pleads.
While road access has now been re-established to Bagshaid, eyewitness accounts lay bare the unpreparedness and lack of communication from local administration. The episode, teachers say, is not just a natural calamity – but a man-made disaster.
#ThunagTragedy #HorticultureCollegeCrisis #HimachalDisaster #StudentVoicesMatter