Vehicle falls into river Chenab on J-K highway, 4 dead
Jammu: Four persons were killed and six others injured when the vehicle they were travelling in skidded off the road and rolled down into Chenab river on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway in Ramban district on Saturday. The persons on board Tata Sumo vehicle were on their way to Srinagar from here when the mishap took place at Nehad belt in Ramban, a senior police officer said. Four persons were killed and their bodies have been recovered, the officer said, adding, two others are missing and rescue operation is on. They are believed to have been washed away by strong current of the river. The six injured passengers were rescued and taken to a hospital, he said. (PTI)
Badrinath shrine to open
Dehradun: The ‘kapaat’ (portals) of the Badrinath shrine in Uttarakhand will open for devotees on Sunday, an official said on Saturday.As per the schedule announced by the priests, the ‘kapaat’ will open at 5.15 a.m.For this, a ‘kalash yatra’ began from the Nrusingh temple in Joshimath on Friday.Prayers and other religious rituals are being done in the temple and the chief priest of the shrine, referred to as ‘rawal’ Ishwaran Namboodari prayed to God for a “peaceful and safe” passage of the shrine.Thousands flock to the shrine every year as a part of the Char Dham yatra – an annual pilgrimage of Hindus.After a six-month-long winter break, the other three shrines — Gangotri, Yamunotri and Kedarnath have already opened earlier this week.The attendance has been thin to these shrines in the past two years after thousands were killed in the cloud burst and subsequent flash floods in the hill state in 2013.The Harish Rawat-led Congress government in Uttarakhand is trying hard to market the Char Dham yatra as a safe trip this year.Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi also trekked the16-km route to Kedarnath on Friday to make people feel safe about the trip. (IANS)
Girl killed, 22 hurt as water tank roof collapses
Jaipur: An 8-year-old girl was killed and at least 22 people were injured when the roof of a water tank collapsed in Solankiya village of Barmer district around 600 km from here.”The incident occurred at around 6 p.m. in Friday evening when some people, the majority of whom were women, had rushed to collect water from a 25 feet deep tank after hearing of water supply to the tank,” a police official told.”As the tank roof collapsed, an 8-year-old girl died on the spot, while at least 22 were injured and four of them, who were critically injured have been referred to Jodhpur,” official said.”We usually get water supply once in 15 days during summers in border areas of Barmer district and on Friday when the supply started, women started shouting “pani ayya….paani aaya’ (water has come…water has come) and rushed to the water tank. There was a mad rush to fetch water but suddenly the water tank roof collapsed with women falling in the tank that had just over 2 feet water at that time,” P.S Rathore, an eyewitness and resident of a nearby village told IANS on phone.Rathore said that the village has a population of over 2,000 and that the water situation is quite bad.”People don’t get water supply regularly. Villages are supplied water once in a week and during summers, it is sometimes once in 15 days that too only for one-two hours. For water, these villagers have to travel on an average of seven-10 km daily. The situation is very bad and the government must look into the matter,” said Durgesh Singh Rajpurohit, a local scribe. (IANS)