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Freak rain wreaks havoc in HP
From S.P. Sharma
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, June 8 — Several residential houses and vehicles were washed away and the Hindustan- Tibet national highway between Rampur and Reckong-Peo in the tribal Kinnaur district was badly damaged due to flash floods caused by cloudbursts at two places today.

Reports said that one person, Rajeshwar Kumar, died when he was hit by a falling stone near Manglar Bridge. No other report of loss of life has yet been received as most of the areas have been cut off.

The Manali-Leh road was also blocked due to heavy snowfall at Rohtang Pass and Baralacha-la.

The District Magistrate of Chamoli in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh has sought the help of men of Project Deepak of the Border Roads Organisation here to rescue a large number of pilgrims stranded near Yamunotri due to landslides.

Reports said that two houses were washed away in the Barua village near Karcham in Kinnaur. The Superintendent of Police, Kinnaur, Mr Ajay Yadav, said that 5 jeeps and one truck were also washed away.

Two bridges on Solding nullah were washed away by a flash flood. Rukti power house on the same nullah was also badly damaged.

The police post office of the executive engineer and many other offices have been evacuated at Karcham, where the Sutlej is flowing over the national highway.

The Chief Engineer of the Project Deepak Brig B.M. Bakshi, told TNS that 50 major landslides have come on the highway between Jeori and Maling in a distance of 70 kms. It could take up to 10 days to clear the highway of these landslides.

The Deputy Commissioner, Kinnaur, Mr J.P. Singh, the SP, Mr Ajay Yadav and the local commander of the Border Roads Organisation had miraculous escape at Rally near Powari when a landslide occurred at the site where they were assessing the damage.

The Director General of Police, Mr T.R. Mahajan, said that cloud bursts were reported at Barua in Karcham and Tangche nullah near Sangla. The road and bridges at Barua washed away as well.

The district authorities in Kinnaur have described the situation as

alarming. Police and home guards personnel have been dispatched on foot to the affected areas for rescue operations as these areas are totally cut off and telephone lines have snapped. Many bridges in the area of Yangtang, Dubling, Tinku nullah, Bhakat nullah and Pangi nullah were badly damaged.

Mr Yadav said that trees were seen swirling down the Sutlej, indicating a cloud burst upstream. The road between the district headquarters of Peo and Pooh on the Kaza was also blocked and washed away at some places.

Reports said that Kinnaur had recorded heavy rain since 5 a.m.

The Rong-Tong and Bareseri nullahs were badly flooded, the Sangla-Plincha road blocked and the national highway damaged at Chora, Sholing, Tapri and Teva near Bhaba Nagar.

The BRO’s Brig Bakshi said he had rushed rescue teams to the Yamunotri area where several pilgrims bound for Gangotri and Badrinath were reportedly stranded.

The Shimla-Rampur highway was closed near Rampur, Basantpur and Narkanda because of landslides.

Registered mail mix-up
By Prabhjot Singh
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 8 — When Mr A from Moga applied for a fresh passport in April this year, he would have never realised that even after two months, his application sent by registered mail to the Regional Passport Office would be lying in a dump in the office of the Director of Public Instructions (Schools), Punjab.

Ms B from Kangra, looking for a job in the Railways, responded to an advertisement for recruitment as a clerk and sent a registered letter to the Chandigarh office of the Railways Recruitment Board. Her application, too, is lying at the office of the DPI (Schools).

These are not isolated cases of wrong delivery of registered letters but there are many more which have been wrongly delivered to the office of the Departmental Selection Committee of the office of the DPI (Primary Schools), Punjab, which had recently advertised the posts of JBT teachers.

Interestingly, as many as 73 registered letters or letters sent through Speed Post to various destinations not only in Chandigarh but also in NOIDA, near New Delhi, have landed at the DPI (Primary Schools) here.

All this came to the light after a letter addressed to the Home Secretary, Chandigarh Administration, disappeared. The hunt for the missing letter led the investigators of the Post Department to the office of the DPI (Primary Schools), which had in the past one month, received more than 60,000 applications by registered post for the post of JBT teachers.

The letter was ultimately tracked down in the office of the DPI (Primary Schools). In the process, as many as 73 other letters addressed to other offices were also detected. These letters had been mailed as far back as first week of April and the senders would have been awaiting response in vain. The letters, which are to be delivered in person to the addressee never reached the correct destination.

While the Home Department of the Administration took away its letter, others are still lying at the office of the DPI (Primary Schools). The staff of the DPI is now preparing a complete list of letters.

A spokesman for the Department of Post, admitting “mix up” said that this was just because of heavy rush of mail.