Hyderabad: AP principal secretary (revenue) J.C. Sharma, who was at the mishap site in Mandi, said: “Usually from 48 to 72 hours, bodies float up. There are only two methods, one is physically retrieving the bodies stuck between rocks and the other is to spot the floating bodies on the reservoir side.”
He added, “Till Monday, four bodies were recovered and on Tuesday one more body was found in the stones. On Wednesday, the search operations will be further intensified.”
Mr Sharma said as the water was muddy, the underwater vision cameras were of no use. The body of Debashish Bose was the last to be recovered near the spot. His body was flown to Shamshabad on Tuesday.
Union minister Ashok Gajapati Raju left the site on Tuesday while Telangana home minister Nayani Narasimha Reddy, AP minister P. Narayana and TD’s Kambampati Ramohan Rao were camped at the spot.
The Himachal government has announced relief of Rs 1.50 lakh to the next of kin of the students, while the Himachal HC has called it a grave negligence and has sought a status report by June 16.
