Mohit Chauhan hails from Nahan in the Sirmaur district of Himachal Pradesh. Having grown up in the state, the singer says “to see such calamity hit your home state is heartbreaking”. He adds, “What’s happening there is scary,” referring to the devastation caused by the heavy rains in the state.

The Gehraiyaan (Gehraiyaan; 2022) singer has “friends and family all over Himachal Pradesh” and not being able to contact them makes him worried.

“A lot of them are in the areas that are being reported in the news, including Kullu and Mandi. Given how bad the situation in Himachal is at the moment, I haven’t been able to get through to a lot of my family and friends because their phones are either unreachable or discharged due to the power cuts. When you can’t communicate with your loved ones, a feeling of helplessness sets in,” he says.

The 57-year-old urges everyone to come together and contribute towards the relief operations: “The areas where rain is causing havoc are places I have frequented, lived in and constantly gone back to. While the government is doing all it can to help the situation, it’s time for us to come together and help out those who are suffering.”

Chauhan feels one needs to be responsible while carrying out construction activities in the state to avert such calamity in the future. “It’s high time we start working towards conserving and consolidating life in the mountains. If we respect Nature while planning infrastructure development, there is a good chance to lessen the effect of such a catastrophe,” he ends.