Beas tragedy: No lessons learnt as tourists continue to throng riverbed

MC Thakur

Manali, July 1

Tourists visiting Kullu-Manali seem to have learnt no lesson from yesterday’s tragedy when a youth from Rohtak drowned while bathing along the Beas near Vashisht Chowk on the Manali-Rohtang road.

Although the administration has put up warning boards requesting the tourists not to go near the river, the latter pay no heed. Such boards have also been put up along the Kullu-Manali highway asking the visitors to stay away from the river banks where a sudden rise in water level can prove fatal.

Despite seeing the warning boards, the tourists go down to the river banks, especially to get clicked. A number of tourists could be seen getting their pictures clicked at the same spot today. The Beas, which runs along the Kullu-Manali highway, attracts hundreds of tourists while driving between Kullu- Manali and Manali-Rohtang. Despite several unfortunate incidents in the past, including the death of 24 engineering students from Hyderabad near Thalout, the tourists continue to sit along the banks and even go a few metres away to click pictures and bathe.

Manali SDM Jyoti Rana said for the safety of the tourists, warning boards had been put up at many places requesting tourists not go near the Beas. “The visitors do not pay attention to the warning signs and keep walking towards the river,” she added. Meanwhile, a search operation has been launched by the Manali police to locate the body of Haryana youth, Pardeep Kumar, who was washed away in the strong currents of the Beas yesterday.