Beas tragedy: AP govt mulling assistance from ISRO, NASA

Mandi (HP), June 14: Andhra Pradesh Government is considering to take the assistance of space agencies ISRO and NASA to trace the 17 missing engineering students from Hyderabad who were swept away in Beas river after sudden release of water from a reservoir here.

"We are trying to establish contact with organisations like ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) and NASA (US space agency) and are determined to trace all the missing students," Deputy Chief Minister N Chinna Rajappa, who visited the area this evening to review the rescue operation, said.

Earlier, speaking to reporters in Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh before leaving for Himachal Pradesh, he said a contingent of Border Security Force and sophisticated water cameras will be deployed to trace the missing students.

"A large contingent consisting of Border Security Force and sophisticated water cameras will be pressed into service tomorrow to trace the 17 missing students in Beas river in Himachal Pradesh," he said.

25 members of the group from VNR Vignana Jyothi Institute of Engineering and Technology of Hyderabad, who were on an excursion to Manali, were swept away in the river after sudden release of water from the reservoir of the Larji hydro-power project near Thalot on June 8.

Eight bodies have been recovered so far. The rescue agencies will tomorrow use site-scan radar which can capture pictures of the riverbed for underwater search to trace the missing students, after today's special search operation yielded no results.

PTI