M A I N   N E W S

Hindustan-Tibet road remains blocked
Tribune Reporters & PTI

Chandigarh, August 3
Heavy rain continued to lash the entire northern region of the country for the second successive day today, throwing life out of gear and disrupting power supply.

Shimla continued to receive a heavy downpour, recording 22.4 mm of rainfall till this morning, the Meteorological Centre here said.

A landslide in Shimla town blocked the main Cart Road and several trees were uprooted yesterday, disrupting traffic for several hours.

The Hindustan-Tibet National Highway-22 remained blocked for the second day today after a landslide at Nanhidhank near Matyana. According to a report received here, the vehicular traffic was diverted via Basantpur to Rampur as the road could not be cleared. The national highway, which was cleared by the PWD staff by afternoon yesterday, was today also blocked at Bhawanger near Jhakri due to landslide again. The Kinnaur district has been cut off by road from the rest of the country.

Meanwhile, Rakesh, a resident of Bark village under the Kusumpati police chowki, was washed away in the Dogra Khud yesterday.

According to the police, he was washed away while crossing the khud along with his two friends.

A report from Chamba said that Chamba had been cut off from the rest of the country by road due to blockade of the Chamba-Pathankot highway on following widespread rain since Friday.

A large number of tourists who had come to attend the Minjar fair of Chamba have been stranded at different places due to the blockade of the Chamba-Pathankot highway.

Sundernagar, Nahan, Pandoh, Rampur, Kasol, Gamrur, Sunni, Sujanpur Tira and Nadaun were also lashed by heavy rains.

Rains also lashed Ambala, Hisar, Kurukshetra, Karnal, Kalka, Narnaul and Rohtak in Haryana.

Jammu received 36.6 mm of rainfall until this morning, the Met Centre said.

Dharamsala: A landslide in the Bhagsu Nag waterfall area in the upper Dharamsala today claimed one life while another person was injured.

According to reports, some youths from Moga in Punjab had gone to the waterfall and were having bath when the mishap took place. The falling boulders hit Pamma and his friend Sonu. Pamma died on the spot while Sonu was injured and rescued by his friends.

Mandi: Manghri Devi of Tandu village of Darang was killed when a boulder fell on her due to heavy rain. She died on the spot.

Hamirpur: Widespread damage has been caused to crops due to heavy rains in the district during the past one week.

Reports reaching here from interiors of the district say that great damage has been caused by the Maan and Seer khuds in Nadaun and Bhoranj tehsils of the district.