Meet Sreenivasarao: The first to monitor rescue operations at Beas

It was just another day for Sreenivasarao Kolli until he switched on the TV which sent shivers down his spine on June 8. Startled, he made calls to different people who could provide him the right information. He contacted the assistant engineer, electrical department and asked him what exactly happened. He was informed that there was a sudden increase in the discharge of water from the barrage and 24 students from VNR College of Hyderabad were washed away.

He says, “Prior to the opening of the dam, the water levels in Larji Barrage were full due to the snow meltdown and pre-monsoon showers.”

Sreenivasarao, a supervisor for Border Roads Organisation, called up the constable on site and also had the chance to talk to a student who survived. He then tried calling the landline number of the Mandi Police, but then the line was busy. He approached the tehsildar Ajay Parashar. Parashar was on the way to the site where the incident happened. They discussed the safety of the survived students and faculty. Parashar reached the site and talked to Ravi Kumar, a student who survived the disaster. He explained, “The water level suddenly rose to five or six feet and the students who were close to the river were washed away. The water rose very fast and no warning signals were heard.”

Sreenivasarao and Parashar made sure accomodation for the students and faculty who survived were arranged near Hanogi Mata Temple, around 2-3 km away from the site.

The next morning, Sreenivasarao sent a person to the disaster site. He then started at around 5am and reached Hanogi Mata Temple at 8.30am. P Ravi Shankar, assistant commissioner and Rama Rao, protocol officer, also joined from the AP Bhavan, who were morally supporting and taking care of the survivors. Meanwhile Suma, a faculty member of Vignana Jyothi Institute of Engineering and Technology gave Sreenivasarao’s number to Telangana Home Minister Naini Narsimha Reddy. After coordinating with the minister, he arranged flights for the parents and relatives of the students.

Later the survivors which included 22 students, one faculty member and four crew members were sent to Kulu-Manali Airport at 5pm. From there, they were sent to Chandigarh and from Chandigarh a special flight was arranged to Hyderabad. Two students and two faculty members stayed back in order to identify the fished out dead bodies. Coming to the warning systems, Sreenivasarao said, “The warning system has its limits and can only sound upto a kilometre radius. Water moves very swiftly, especially when the water level is high and is held on for a long time. The incident happened in a few minutes because the huge quantity of water was sent at one go.”

He also said that warning signals were sent, but it didn’t reach the students or the faculty members. The officials were also unaware about the people who had come to the place. According to Sreenivasarao, there should have been some sort of patrolling team to inform the students about the situations at the dam. Civil admin was not in time and acted very carelessly.

Two days after the incident, the dam was completely closed for three hours in order to search for the dead bodies.

Sreenivasarao highlighted that the Telangana government was very prompt and took good care of the survivors and extended its moral support. Himachal Pradesh government also did its best.