156 deaths due to drowning in Himachal in 13 months
Shimla, July 26
With 156 deaths due to drowning in Himachal in the past 13 months, DGP Sanjay Kundu has cautioned the public against going close to water bodies.
In a tweet, Kundu said: “Himachal is blessed with natural beauty, which attracts people to rivers, rivulets, lakes and ponds but do not venture too close to water bodies, especially in monsoons.”
“Be mindful that 156 persons have lost their lives in 160 incidents of drowning in 13 months from January 1, 2020, till January 31, 2021”, the tweet said. The number of drowning deaths increases during the monsoon (May end to August) due to cloudburst, flash floods, excessive rain leading to landslides and accidents at river basins due to the increasing level of rivers and poor visibility, it said.
The maximum drowning cases were reported from Mandi and Kangra (25 each) followed by Una (17), Kullu (16), Chamba (14), Shimla (13), Sirmaur (12), Bilaspur (11), Solan and Baddi (10), Hamirpur and Kinnaur (5 each) and Lahaul and Spiti (3).
As per the data from 17 stations where river water level is measured, most of the water bodies are in spate and discharge of water is close to the maximum level, but the rising trend is witnessed only in two stations, Pandoh and Sangla, while the water level is falling at eight centres. — TNS
