M A I N   N E W S

Holiday horror in Mandi
Himachal HC dismisses govt's status report
Seeks fresh response by June 19
Vijay Arora
Legal Correspondent

Shimla, June 16
The Himachal Pradesh High Court today said it was not satisfied with the status report filed by the state government on the June 8 tragedy in which 24 students from a Hyderabad engineering college were swept away in the Beas.

A search operation in progress in Thalot, Mandi, on Monday.

The High Court has sought a fresh report from the state government on June 19 and has also made the Hyderabad engineering college a party in the public interest litigation.

In its status report filed in the HC today, the Himachal Government admitted to lapses in the warning system. There were no notice boards to alert people about the release of water from the Larji barrage.

Taking suo-motu cognisance of the tragedy, the High Court had on June 10 directed the state government to file a report by June 16 on its investigation into the tragedy.

A Division Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Mansoor Ahmad Mir and Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan directed the Mandi Divisional Commissioner to submit a fresh report on or before June 19.

The status report submitted in the court mentions the water level at Larji barrage was 969.50 meters even before the opening of spillway gates. At 6.15 pm on June 8, the operating staff at the Larji barrage opened radial gate No. 5 to 50 cm, thereby releasing 50 cumecs of water.

This apparently resulted in substantial increase in water flow leading to the tragedy.

The actual cause of the mishap will be known after the inquiry report to be submitted by the Mandi Divisional Commissioner, the status report said.

The spillway gates were subsequently opened to 1.5 meters and then to 2.5 meters increasing the water spillage from 50 cumecs to 150 cumecs.

The report says that warning boards have been put in place.

The Court also directed the Managing Director of the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board (HPSEB), Superintending Engineer (Generation) Larji Power House at Bhuntar and the Resident Engineer, Larji Power House, Thalot Division, to remain present in the court on June 19.

The court has also asked them to file a detailed report as to how they were manning the barrage/dam and what was the mechanism and plan which they were following before discharge of water.

No warning system put in place

* HP Government admits to lapses

* Says there was sudden increase in discharge of water from Larji Dam

* There was no warning system or notice boards at the mishap site

* Court directs state power board and Larji Dam authorities to file detailed report on June 19