Himachal govt to fence 3-km stretch along dams

Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh government on Wednesday announced several measures to prevent the recurrence of incidents like the one happened on Monday in which 24 students from a Hyderabad engineering college were washed away by strong currents of the Beas river. Among the measures are erecting fence along a three kilometre stretch at all dams and other such projects in the state, and installation of proper signages to warn people. 

Since the Monday’s incident happened due to a sudden release of water from the Larji Dam, the state’s power department has also been given orders to be more cautious when releasing water from all dams in the future. Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh announced the measures after holding talks with officials of the departments of power and non-conventional energy. 

The incident led to a massive outrage over the callousness of dam officials, who – according to some reports – did not even sound alarm/hooters before releasing the water. Out of the 24 students and a tour operator who were swept away, bodies of only six students have been recovered.

The search operations in Mandi are being conducted by Army, police and Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel. Navy divers ars also set to join the operations. Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission has issued a notice to the Himachal Pradesh government in connection with the tragic incident.