'I SURVIVED KULLU TRAGEDY'; Student recalls Himachal horror!

Manali: Twenty-five students, who were taking photographs on the bank of river Beas near Thalot on Manali-Kiratpur Highway, 40 kms from Mandi, were washed away last evening when the discharge of water in the river suddenly increased due to release of water from the reservoir of 126 MW Larji hydropower project. A group of 48 students, three faculties and a child of one of the faculty were travelling to Manali when the tragedy struck. In a report published in NDTV, one of the student who was part of the group revealed how his classmates were washed away in mere 10 minutes in front of his eyes. According to Suharsha the students had made there way on top of a rock, in middle of the river, to take photographs by treading on a series of small rocks. Suharsha was upstream and noticed the water levels suddenly rising. He immediately alerted the students on top of the rock about the rising water. Panic gripped as stuck students desperately tried to make their back to the shore. However, they were hindered by the only passage- series of small rocks- and eventually drowned in the strong current of water released from the dam above. As the water level increased, Suharsha, his friends and locals tried in vain to throw ropes and stickes to help the drowning students. Suharsha revealed that he saw 10-15 students drown in front of his eyes. Meanwhile, Suharsha ran towards the dam and alerted an official about the incident. The official told him that they are trying to stop the flow of water. In a related development, Telangana Home Minister Naini Narsimha Reddy and government officials along with a police team today left for Himachal Pradesh in the wake of 25 engineering students from the city being washed away in the Beas river in the hill state. Two teams of NDRF comprising of 45 members each have been dispatched to the mishap site to help local authorities in relief and rescue operations, according to a senior official of NDRF.