Engineering students washed away in Himachal: Andhra Pradesh acts before Telangana, announces relief

Hyderabad, June 11:

did not waste its time to announce relief for the kins of the victims who died in

during their study tour on Sunday, June 8. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday announced Rs 5 lakh compensation each for the families of the engineering

drowned in Himachal Pradesh.

Naidu made the announcement before the Telangana government came out with a package to assist the families of the victims. Rescue workers have so far recovered six bodies from the Beas river in Himachal Pradesh while search is on for 18 other missing students.

The students from V.N.R. Vignana Jyothi Engineering College in Hyderabad were washed away in flash floods triggered by the release of water from a hydroelectric project.

AP: Rs 5 lakh each for the families of the engineering students announced

Though the students are from Telangana, the government of neighbouring Andhra Pradesh has come forward for the relief work. It arranged special flights to take parents of the students to Himachal Pradesh and bring them back with the bodies.

Naidu, who took over as chief minister on Sunday, reviewed the relief operations on Tuesday. He spoke to Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju and state minister P Narayana over phone and directed them to extend all possible help to the parents of the victims.

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief also appealed to the central government to speed up search operations for the missing students. While Andhra Pradesh announced relief for the families, Telangana vowed to sue the Himachal Pradesh Dam authority as well as the college where the students studied.

However, Himachal Pradesh government too announcedan immediate relief of Rs 1.50 lakh to the next of kin of the engineering college students.

"We have announced a compensation of Rs 1.50 lakh to next of kin of each victim and also made arrangement for sending the bodies of the victims and also provided all possible help to the affected families", Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh told reporters.

OneIndia News