Magisterial probe ordered into Dharamsala flash flood tragedy

Kangra District Magistrate Hemraj Bairwa has ordered a magisterial probe into the Dharamsala flash floods, in which five bodies of labourers have been recovered so far. One labourer has also been rescued safely from the forest area.

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At least 170 labourers —trapped on the up-stream of the rivulet that witnessed flash floods — were safely brought down on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday.

They were working on the under-construction Manuni Hydroelectric Power Project, a sister concern of the Indira Priyadarshini Hydroelectric Power Project, coming up on the Manuni rivulet when the flash floods struck on Wednesday evening.

Hemraj Bairwa said that the SDM will look into all facts and circumstances of the tragedy. "We have recovered five bodies; out of which four have been identified and three are yet to be recovered from the rivulet," he said.

Kangra SP Shalini Agnihotri said the bodies recovered from the rivulet have been identified as Chain Singh (20), a resident of Kumaadi village, Doda district (J&K); Aditya Thakur (24), a resident of Rakh village, Chamba district; Pardeep Verma (35), a resident of Sohanpur village, Deoria district (UP); and Chandan Kumar (27), a resident of Sohanpur village, Deoria district (UP).

She said that one Lovely Kumar (20), son of Surma Ram, a resident of Poona village, Chamba, has been safely recovered from the forests on Thursday. He ran away to the forests to save his life, the SP added.

The rescue operation to trace the three missing labourers is ongoing by the NDRF and the SDRF. "It is a challenging task for the teams due to rain, the fast current of water and geographical conditions," said Abhishek Dular, IG of the North Range, Himachal Pradesh.