24 city students washed away in Beas river
Hyderabad : At least 24 engineering students from Hyderabad, including six girls, are feared to have been washed away on Sunday evening in River Beas near Thalaut on the Manali-Kiratpur Highway, 60 km from Kullu in Himachal Pradesh.
Authorities in Shimla said that the students were swept away by the gushing waters of Beas after Larji Hydropower Project authorities released water from its reservoir apparently without any warning, resulting in a sudden rise in the water level.
A group of 48 engineering students and three faculty members from VNR Vignana Jyothi Institute of Engineering and Technology College in Bachupally left the city on June 3 on an industrial tour to Himachal Pradesh by two private buses.
One of the students, Pratyusha, who saved herself, said that they were on their way to Kullu from Shimla and were taking pictures on the river bed. Some students went a bit deep into the waters and they couldn't rush back as the gushing waters swept them away.
A faculty member assisting the students A Aditya said that 24 students from one of the buses got down to take pictures near the Larji Dam.
At around 6.30pm, water was released from the dam and all the 24 students who had reached the river bank were swept away by the gushing waters. 'The water came with such force that they had very little time even to react. They were all swept away by the gushing water in minutes. We were helpless,' he said.
A faculty member Kiran, who accompanied the students, was also missing as of now and the college authorities were not able to establish contact with him. The students were from the second year of Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering (EIE) branch.
Mandi Deputy Commissioner Devesh Kumar and Additional SP K C Rana said that the tragedy occurred due to sheer negligence on the part of Larji Dam officials, who released water from the dam without any warning.
All the 24 students were swept away by the strong current of water from the dam, they said. The district administration confirmed that the other 24 students were safe.
Massive search operations have been launched to trace the missing students. Enraged people blocked the national highway after the incident.
News Posted: 9 June, 2014
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