IANS/Mandi, Himachal Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister N Chinna Rajappa yesterday said his government was trying to establish contact with the Indian and US space agencies to locate bodies of 16 missing students who were swept away when water was released into the Beas river here without warning last week.
“We are trying to establish contact with organisations like ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) and Nasa ...we will trace all the bodies,” Rajappa, who is also Andhra Pradesh’s home and disaster management minister, told reporters here.
He reached the accident site yesterday evening to monitor the rescue operations.
The rescuers will today deploy side scan sonar, which can capture pictures of the riverbed, to locate the bodies. The water level in the river was lowered yesterday morning for the first time to locate the bodies.
Over 550 rescue workers continued their search for the sixth day. Over 50 divers of the National Disaster Response Force, the army, the navy and the Ind0-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) are involved in the search operation. Fifteen divers from Hyderabad also joined in yesterday.
“The water level in the 3km river stretch near the accident spot was minimised at the lowest ebb for almost two hours by controlling inflow into it and but no major success has been achieved,” Jaideep Singh, commanding officer of the NDRF, said.
He said the focus of yesterday’s operation was to locate the bodies trapped under boulders. “Now we are sure, at least 95%, that the bodies are no more trapped in this 3km area.”
Official sources said an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), deployed by the NDRF, couldn’t operate fully due to some flaws in the satellite link.
In the first four days of the operation, eight bodies were recovered, most of them either trapped under the rocks or buried in the riverbed silt within a 3km radius of the accident spot Thalaut on the Chandigarh-Manali national highway 21 in Mandi district.
About 25 parents and family members of the missing students, who are camping here since Monday, are losing hope.
“They are doing their best but it seems retrieving the bodies is quite tough and challenging. But we are still hopeful,” Krishna Reddy, father of missing Rishtia Reddy, said.
Telangana Home Minister Nayani Narasimha Reddy, camping here, said he was satisfied with the operation. He added: “The parents, who are having some hope of finding their loved ones, are shattered today.”
