Chamba man falls into rivulet while crossing bridge, dies

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, July 22

A 30-year-old man, identified as Narian Singh of Jhalu village in the remote Tissa area of Chamba district, died after falling into a rivulet while crossing a broken bridge last evening.

The incident came to light when his family and villagers launched a search operation after he did not return home till late. However, they found Narian’s body 6 km away from the bridge. The villagers had a tough time bringing the body back through the dilapidated bridge. Narain is survived by his wife and three minor children.

Sunil Kumar, a local resident, said the bridge had been in bad shape for the last four years. Despite repeated requests to the district administration and the local authorities to reconstruct the bridge, nothing had been done so far. He said the bridge was vital for them and most villagers had to cross the rivulet for some work everyday, thereby putting their lives in danger.

He said two persons had lost their lives in a similar accident three years ago.

Deputy Commissioner, Chamba, Vivek Bhatia could not be contacted for his comment.

Notably, Chamba has been selected under ‘Vision ‘22’ programme of the Union Government. It is among 115 districts selected across the country that are to be developed at a fast pace under the aegis of the Union Government. The scheme has been named “Aspirational District Yojana”.

Chamba is still backward on various fronts as compared to other districts of the state. It has the lowest literacy in the entire state. Tissa also figures among the most backward areas of the district.