Man swept away by flash flood in Paonta Sahib

Kullu: A 53-year-old man was swept away in a flash flood near Paonta Sahib in Sirmaur district even as Himachal Pradesh continues to record deficient rainfall so far this monsoon season.
According to a district official, Aman Singh was accompanying his daughter Gracy when the flash flood struck Friday evening near his house in Retua village under the Paonta Sahib sub-division.
Singh along with his daughter was checking water entering their cowshed when suddenly the water level rose and he was swept away. Singh managed to push Gracy away from the flood water, but drowned himself, said the official.
A search operation was launched Friday night as the village and the administration came to know about the incident. However, a team of local police and villagers couldn’t locate Singh. The search operation was resumed on Saturday and the body of Singh was recovered along the bank of Tons river.
According to the Meteorological Centre, Shimla, in the last 24 hours, Sirmaur district received the highest rainfall of 20.8 mm, which was 46% higher than the normal rainfall of 14.2 mm. However, the entire state on Saturday recorded a deficient rainfall of 1.2 mm, which is 88% less than the normal rainfall of 9.7 mm.
So far this monsoon month from July 1 to 20, Himachal has recorded 100.2 mm rainfall, which is 36% less than the normal 155.7 mm.
Lahaul Spiti tops the list of districts that have received deficient rainfall (-89%) so far, followed by Sirmaur (-55%), Una (-48%), Solan (-45%), Kinnaur (-43%), Chamba (-42%), Kullu (-41%), Hamirpur (-35%), Bilaspur (-30%), Shimla (-17%), Kangra (-9%) and Mandi (-5%).
Kukumseri in Lahaul Spiti was the coldest place in Himachal on Saturday with a minimum of 12.1 degrees Celsius.