2 drown during Holi in U’khand; 1 dead, another missing

Dehradun: A 31-year-old man from Haryana drowned in the Ganga river at Rishikesh during Holi celebrations on Wednesday, while another man from Bihar went missing after he was swept away in the Alaknanda river in Srinagar, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) officials said on Thursday.Officials said a team from Dhalwala post was deployed near Nim Beach in Rishikesh on Wednesday as part of safety and vigilance arrangements during the festival. "The team, led by sub-inspector Surendra Singh, was patrolling the stretch between Nim Beach and Laxman Jhula on a motorboat when it saw a man being swept away by a swift current," said Vineet Kumar, SDRF spokesperson.The man was rescued and administered CPR and then shifted to a nearby hospital where doctors declared him dead. He was identified as Akshay Kumar from Faridabad district in Haryana. Akshay and his friend Abhishek had come to Rishikesh to celebrate Holi. He slipped while bathing in the river. Inspector Pankaj Chauhan, Muni Ki Reti police station, said, "Akshay worked at a private company and was the only son in his family and got married a year ago." In a separate incident, a search operation by local police and SDRF teams is underway for one Deepak Kumar, a resident of Darbhanga district in Bihar, after he reportedly drowned in Alaknanda river in Srinagar. Officials said Deepak, a labourer, had gone to bathe in the river after playing Holi when he accidentally moved into deeper waters and was swept away by the current.