The tragedy of 26 college students drowning in the Beas river could have been avoided but for the appalling incompetence of the Larji dam authorities — and by extension, the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board — in releasing flood waters without deference to standard operating procedure. On the evening of June 8, the Larji dam’s operators opened the gates of the hydroelectric project’s reservoir, upon realising its waters were full to the brim. The flash flood that followed washed away the college students from Hyderabad, who were in Kullu-Manali for a sightseeing trip.
That the managers of the project were grossly negligent is beyond doubt. For starters, it is puzzling how the dam’s waters were full during peak summer, when there is an acute shortage of electricity across most parts of the country. Even if this were to be explained away as poor demand for electricity in the state, there is simply no excuse for the manner in which the authorities chose to dispose of the surplus water, which ultimately caused the tragedy. They stopped power generation in two of three units that same evening, a dangerous decision that likely led to a steady increase in water levels, given the dam’s limited capacity. The HPSEB’s defence, that the national load dispatch centre had instructed the Larji station to lower its power generation to “save the grid”, cuts no ice. The Larji dam has an installed capacity of 126 MW, which is hardly a burden on the national grid.
The folly of opening the flood gates without proper warning — the state authorities claim sirens were blared and hooters were sounded — is even more egregious. Summer in Himachal sees a significant influx of tourists, especially in Kullu and Manali. More vulnerable is the local population and the livestock that graze along river banks. The dam authorities have reportedly been releasing waters in this fashion for a week now. Their actions show a criminal lack of sensitivity to public safety. Suspending the dam’s engineers, as the state government has done, will not suffice. Now that the HP high court has taken cognisance of this tragedy, the state government must follow through with a comprehensive investigation into the incident, and take stern action at the managerial level where there has been non-compliance or dereliction of duty. Meanwhile, rescue operations, which have come in for criticism due to a shortage of searchlights and divers, must be completed expeditiously.
