The Himachal Tragedy Took The Lives Of 24 Students and one of Their Tour Guides

The Larji Hydroelectric Power Plant.

Larji is a 126MW hydro power project constructed in 2006. It is on the Beas river/basin in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.

The Tragedy

The Beas River disaster happened on June 8, 2014, when 24 second-year engineering students (six women and 18 men) and one tour guide from the V.N.R. Vignana Jyothi Institute of Engineering and Technology in Hyderabad drowned in the Beas River in Himachal Pradesh.

On the tour, there were 48 students and three staff members. Some of them were taking pictures of themselves on the banks of the Beas River when the river's water flow suddenly increased, washing them away. When the floodgates at the Larji hydroelectric power project were opened, tons of water were sent down the river.

The water was let out of the dam quickly and without warning by the people in charge of the dam. Two students were warned when men collecting sand on the shore started pointing and shouting "Dam" just before the water rushed in.

Two days after the event, footage of the victims being caught off guard by the river and carried away was posted on the internet. Someone  captured the footage while he was about 100 meters above the riverbed on a hill where a wedding was happening.

Asish Mantha saw that it was the danger and started helping the other students get to the river bank. Students who made it out say that Kiran Kumar Muppidi saved five of his classmates before he ran away.

Witnesses who were there at the time said that the unofficial tour guide had jumped into the water to save some students before drowning.

Responses

Officials at the Larji Hydroelectric Project and College were charged with negligence for the deaths of 24 engineering students. Witnesses said that the hooter didn't go off before the water was released.

Some even said the students were killed by the dam operators.

Many people blamed the people in charge of the project for letting out tons of water without warning during the busiest time for tourists, when people from all over the country flock to the Himachal Pradesh riverbanks.

The people in charge of the dam say they had every right to let the water out quickly and that they used the required hooters at the right time. But some angry locals disagree with this story and say that the horn was blown after the accident to save face.

The rulebook says that the people in charge of the dam must tell the state and local government about rising water levels so that people downstream can be warned. 

People from  nearby villages said that the Larji hydroelectric project released water at an odd time. 

Most of the time, they let water out after 9 p.m. and blow horns to warn people. They  said that the alarm went off after 24 students and their tour guide were washed away.

Locals said that water is usually let out of dams slowly, so that the water level doesn't rise all at once. "We have no idea why the gates were suddenly opened. "Not only did the water rise quickly, but the river flooded in a matter of seconds," said another local.

Residents who were angry and had blocked the national highway in an act of protest said that they know what a hooter means, but they don't know how tourists would know that the water level is going to rise without being told. People who don't know there's a reservoir behind the hills think it's safe to go near water even when it's not raining.

550 rescue team members were sent by the government. They found the bodies of 23 of the 24 students and the tour guide.