5 dead as car falls into gorge

Tribune News Service

Mussoorie, March 31

Five persons were reported dead when a car fell into a deep gorge yesterday near Jalsi village on the Aglar-Thatyud road yesterday evening. The two deceased engineer couples have been identified as Jagdish Dhasmana (40), Rajni Dhasmana(35), teenage son Mannu Dhasmana (16), Harmohan (42) and Ravinder Kaur (40), all residents of Dehradun.

According to the nayab tehsildar, Dhanaulti, Manjit Singh Gill, the engineer couples were working in Jindal drilling company and were returning in their car no UK07BD 1710 after meeting their friend Shashi Bhushan at Parodi village when the driver lost control over the vehicle. The vehicle fell into a 150 feet deep gorge near Jalsi village in district Tehri.

Four persons died on the spot instantly while one woman was declared brought dead by the medical staff of Thatyud government medical centre.

Grief struck the surrounding villages as the two couples wanted to do something for Parodi village that was damaged during the natural disaster of 2013 and had come to discuss ways to help the villagers with their friend Shashi Bhushan from same village.

The Governor of the state KK Paul has extended his grief in a condolence message released today and has prayed for the peace to the departed souls and strength to the family members to bear the loss of their near and dear ones. The nayab tehsildar, Dhanaulti, Manjit Singh Gill, said that they were yet to ascertain the reason of the accident and were investigating the matter in detail.

However, the local residents are angry and blame the absence of parapets or guard rails on the Aglar-Thatyud road as the main reason for rise in the number of accidents here. Several people have died last year due to the lack of guard rails here but the PWD is not interested in the work that could save many lives in future, lamented the villagers here who have to risk their lives while commuting through on a daily basis.

The senior PWD officials when contacted said that due to absence of adequate budget they were not able to carry forward the safety work on the road and have demanded additional budget for the construction of parapet or guard rails.

Meanwhile, Uttarakhand Governor Dr.K.K.Paul and Chief Minister Harish Rawat have condoled the deaths in the accident.