Broken bridge claims villager''s life in remote Chamba area

Lalit Mohan
Tribune News Service
Dharamsala, July 22

A resident of Jhalu village in remote Tissa area of Chamba district lost his life due to a broken bridge, pointing to the apathy of the state government. 

Narain Singh (32) was trying to cross a rivulet using a broken bridge in his village last night when he allegedly fell into swelling waters. When he did not return home the villagers launched a search and found his body 6 km downstream. The body was brought back to the village with great difficulty over the same broken bridge.

Narain is survived by his three minor children and wife.

Sunil Kumar, a resident of area while talking to The Tribune on phone said the bridge over the rivulet was in a damaged for the past about four years. They have been petitioning the district administration and local authorities to reconstruct the bridge as it was vital link for them. Most residents have to cross the rivulet by risking their life on a daily basis. Three years ago two people had lost their life on the same bridge, he claimed.

Deputy Commissioner Vivek Bhatia was not available for comment despite repeated attempts.

Chamba had been selected under the ‘Vision 22’ programme of the Centre as a backward district from Himachal. It was one of 115 districts across the country that were be developed at a fast pace under ‘Aspirational District Yojana’. The district was selected as it was still backward on various developmental index as compared to other areas of the state. As the statistical report of the state government, Chamba district has the lowest literacy in the state. The literacy was 72 per cent as compared to adjoining district Kangra where the figure was 85 per cent. Within Chamba, Tissa is among the most backward areas of the district.