CHANDIGARH: There were widespread rain across Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh on Saturday and more rain is in store till Monday. In two different incidents, fifteen people lost their lives in Himachal and Haryana respectively. Besides these rains brought misery to farmers as the untimely showers have affected the standing paddy crop.
Thirteen people, including three couples, died after a vehicle skidded off a road and fell into a deep gorge in Sanail, three kilometres from Kuddu on Tiyuni Road in Shimla district. The ill-fated Trax vehicle was on its way to Tiyuni from Swara.
Superintendent of Police of Shimla Omapati Jamwal said, "all 13 passengers were killed in the accident. While ten died on the spot, three succumbed to their injuries at Rohru hospital.''
The deceased included eight members of three families. The deceased have been identified as Matvar Singh (48) his wife Basanti Devi (44) their son Munish (24), Prem Singh (38) his wife Poonam (30) their daughter Ridhima (6), Attar Singh (44) his wife Munna Devi (40), Bittu (42), Bandi Devi (48), Ner Singh (35), Manoj (35) and Anil (28).
In another incident in neighbouring, Haryana two children were killed and four others of a family were seriously injured when the roof of their house in Dilipgarh area of Ambala in Haryana collapsed on Saturday morning following heavy rains.
The incident occurred when the family was sleeping in their house. As the roof of the house, which was already in a dilapidated condition, collapsed following the heavy rain. Neighbours pulled out those trapped under the debris and injured were rushed to tal where Sheetal (15) and her brother Hunny (7) were declared brought dead.
Due to the rains, farmers in both Punjab and Haryana said the rain during this period was not good as the harvesting of the paddy crop was on. The paddy crop which is almost ready for harvesting was damaged in some areas.
The procurement of paddy in Punjab and Haryana is scheduled to begin from October 1. These rains also caused landslides on national highways in Shimla, Kinnaur, Mandi and Kullu districts thus hampering vehicular traffic. Also the water level in major rivers like Sutlej, Beas and Yamuna also increased.