Shimla:
Heavy rains claimed one more life in Himachal Pradesh’s Kangra district, taking the toll to 25 even as a 44-year-old bridge was washed away by raging floodwaters.
Kandrori bridge, the 160-metre bridge built in 1972, connected Nurpur area in the district with Punjab. Eight pillars of the bridge were completely washed away yesterday. However, no was was injured in the incident, police said.
Traffic was diverted via Kathgarh and Malot link roads. A road leading to Mallot bridge was also damaged by rains, SDM, Nurpur, Rakesh Prajapati said.
A school girl was yesterday swept away in a flooded nallah in the district even as another girl was rescued from a drain in Chamba, police said.
A man trapped in a ravine was rescued by a joint team of police and the district administration after 10 hours. So far, 25 people have been killed in rain-related incidents in the state, officials said.
Heavy rains hit Kangra, Hamirpur and Bilaspur districts, inundating the low-lying areas and disrupting water and power supply. The districts gauged 42 to 217 mm of rains.
With this, the rain deficit for the period between June 1 to August 12 has been reduced to 13 per cent. Six districts in the state have had excess precipitation. The weatherman has warned of more rains in the state tomorrow.
