Dhuleti dips turns deadly for 32 in Gujarat

Rajkot/Surat/Ahmedabad: Dhuleti celebrations turned tragic across Gujarat on Wednesday, with at least 32 people drowning in rivers, canals and ponds after venturing into water bodies for dips after the Holi festivities.Surat city and district reported at least 10 deaths. In Pansara village of Mangrol taluka, a group of youths entered the Kim river for a dip but began struggling in the strong current. Despite shouting for help, three of them drowned.In another incident, four of the five men who entered the Mindhola river near Isroli village drowned. Rescue teams recovered three bodies, while a search operation is underway to trace the fourth missing person.In Surat city, three friends entered the Tapi river near Sarthana Nature Park for a dip. Two drowned while one managed to swim to safety. The body of 19-year-old Jaydeep Viras was recovered, while another youth, Krishna Chaudhary, remains missing. The preliminary inquiry revealed that the youths had come from Vesu before venturing into the river.In a separate incident, Navin Parihar (30) drowned in the Tapi river near Mota Varachha.Ahmedabad city and district reported seven deaths, including three children. The children drowned at Zholasar Lake in Sitapur village of Mandal taluka after venturing into deeper water while washing off colours. Villagers pulled them out, but they had already died.In the city's Kotarpur area, four friends drowned in the Sabarmati river. They were identified as Durgesh Kori (21), Sahil Kori (21), Piyush Maherchandani (17) and Sunny Yadav (28), all residents of the Kubernagar area. A passer-by noticed them struggling in the water and alerted the fire brigade.The festival also turned into mourning in parts of Saurashtra, where four people died in separate incidents. In Amreli, Sameer Solanki (30), a resident of Baharpara, drowned in the Shetrunji river, while Mayank Karmur (16) drowned while swimming in a pond in Kalyanpur of Devbhumi Dwarka district.A double tragedy struck Bela village in Rajkot district, where two 13-year-old friends — Mahavirsinh Jadav and Ayush Shiyal — drowned in a river where they had gone to bathe.In Vadodra, a 25-year-old man Ajay Sharma drowned in the canal in the Sama-Chhani area while another person, Ashish Verma, slipped into the Narmada canal near Bhimpura village and died.In Mahisagar district, four friends from Kantar village drowned after reportedly misjudging the depth of a pond in Kamalpur village. The deceased were identified as Amit Baria (21), Tushar Baria (21), Jayesh Baria (21), and Jayesh's brother Vipul Baria (19). In another incident, Jigar Parmar (25) of Naar village was found dead in a canal in Vardhara village.In Mehsana district, two youths — Jayraj Thakor (14) and Vijay Thakor (23) of Bhadu village — drowned in the Sujalam Sufalam canal near Motidau.Two deaths were also reported in Aravalli district, where Anand Khant (28) and Ranjitsinh Dabhi (25) drowned in the Mazum River near Jalampura village.