SHIMLA: Densely covered forests, gushing rivers and serpentine roads make the journey on Mandi-Manali stretch a memorable and enjoyable experience for the tourists. Due to its beauty, this stretch, along with the tunnel, was even shown in the opening shots of Bollywood movie “Three Idiots.”
But instead of its beauty, this stretch would now be known more for the tragedy that killed 24 young engineers, leaving their families devastated for rest of their lives. Taking lessons from Sunday’s incident, the state government has now decided to fence the danger-prone areas, besides putting up warning signs at strategic locations.
Engineering students from Vinana Jayoti Institute of Engineering and Technology, Hyderabad, who luckily survived, said that a small warning or fencing could have saved their friends from drowning.
Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh said that lessons had to be learned from the Larji dam mishap and every precaution should be taken in future by all concerned departments. “Fencing on 2-3 km stretch would be done on all dams, besides other sensitive and dangerous zones and proper signboards would be installed at such areas. A high level inquiry has been ordered and stern action would be taken against those found negligent or defaulting over the incident,” he said.
Singh also directed the MPP and power department to take extra precautions for averting any mishap in future while discharging water from dams in the state. “Safety norms should be strictly enforced. Before releasing water, announcements should be made through vehicles downstream, besides the use of hooters,” the CM said.
The issue of having National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) unit in Himachal Pradesh would be raised with the Centre so that, during emergency, immediate help could be provided to affected people, he said. “Natural calamities result in heavy loss of life and property in Himachal Pradesh and during such situations, the state had to depend on neighbouring states for disaster management, which further delays relief and rescue operations,” the CM said.
Illegal dhabas, rafts closed
Waking up after the Sunday’s incident, Kullu district administration has ordered the closure of illegal dhabas, raft operators and river crossing operators, located along the banks of Beas river. In the dhabas located along the river banks, owners had made their own small beaches where tourists used to take photographs which used to pose a threat to the safety of tourists. Illegal rafting and river crossing operators were also playing with the safety of tourists, sources said.