Shimla/dharamshala, July 3 -- Two rain-related mishaps in Himachal Pradesh claimed two lives on Thursday. A tourist from Punjab drowned while bathing in Kasol stream, while an HRTC bus conductor died in Lahaul and Spiti after being struck by a falling stone. Police have identified the deceased as Anshtej from Kapurthala, Punjab, who was visiting Kullu and Parvati valley region with friends. While bathing in a stream in Kasol, Anshtej was swept away by a strong current into deep water and began to drown. His friends raised an alarm and attempted to rescue him. Locals quickly joined the effort and pulled him out of the stream. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival. The Kullu administration has again issued an appeal to tourists and locals, urging them to strictly avoid going near rivers, ravines, streams, and fast-flowing water bodies. In another mishap, a Himachal Pradesh Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) bus conductor, Gyan Singh, died on Thursday after being struck by a falling stone in the Udaipur sub-division of Lahaul and Spiti. The victim was a resident of Jogindernagar tehsil in Mandi district. This marks the second fatality caused by falling rocks in the state within a span of two days. Gyan Singh was fatally struck on the head by a falling rock while the bus was parked near a natural spring in Myad Nala. The driver and conductor had stopped to freshen up when the accident occurred. The onset of the monsoon in Kinnaur has triggered flash floods, swelling the Cherang Khad near Rispa and sweeping away the village's only connecting road. The severe damage to local infrastructure has temporarily cut off community access and disrupted daily life in the area. Cracks developed in the parking lot of the secretariat in Shimla on Thursday. After large cracks appeared on the ground in a part of the parking lot, the administration declared the affected area unsafe. As a precaution, that part of the parking has been sealed and all the vehicles parked there have been removed. As torrential rains lash Himachal Pradesh, 24 devotees who had been stranded since Wednesday near a temple in Bharmour subdivision of Chamba district after a temporary wooden bridge collapsed were rescued on Thursday, officials said. The devotees had gone to the temple near Liunda Dhar which is beyond Bhadra village in Badgran gram panchayat on Tuesday. According to officials, around 50-60 pilgrims had crossed the bridge to reach the shrine. While some returned safely on Wednesday, 24 remained stranded after the bridge was washed away, cutting off access to the temple. A search and rescue operation was launched after the administration received information about the incident. A joint rescue team comprising personnel from the Mountaineering Institute (Bharmour) and public works department (PWD), rushed to the spot on Wednesday. The local gram panchayat also assisted the rescue operation. The stranded devotees had to spend the night in the temple before they were rescued on Thursday. The administration has arranged food and essentials for the stranded pilgrims. Bharmour sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Vikas Sharma said, "The temporary wooden bridge on the route to the temple has collapsed. The rescue team reached the site on Thursday and all 24 stranded devotees were evacuated. An NDRF team was on standby. Before the evacuation, essential supplies were provided to them." Incessant rainfall triggered a massive landslide near Dinka Ghar on the Chamba-Bharmour road, blocking the highway and disrupting traffic on Thursday. Long queues of vehicles were seen stranded on both sides of the road. Heavy rainfall is likely to continue across most parts of Himachal till July 8. The India meteorological department (IMD), Shimla, has issued an orange alert for heavy to very heavy rainfall in Kangra and Mandi districts on July 3. A yellow alert for moderate to heavy rainfall has also been issued for Una, Kullu, Shimla and Sirmaur districts on the same day....