Six people including two minors drowned to death in river Godavari at Sri Ram Sagar (SRS) Project in Telangana’s Pochampadu on Friday.
The drowned persons were the family of Jilkara Suresh from Deekampally of the neighbouring Makloor mandal, who had organised a function for tonsuring a baby’s head.
They were joined by over 50 people of extended family and their relatives at the Godavari river for performing the function.
The police said that some men from the group had gone to take a bath along the river near VIP ghat and drowned before they were washed away with the flow of water.
The deceased have been identified as Jilakara Suresh (40) and his son Yogesh (16) who hailed from Deekampally; Bobbili Srinivas (40) and his two sons – Siddharth (16) and Srikar (14) – who were from Yellammagutta of Nizamabad; and Dodle Raju (24), who hailed from Guthpa of Dharpally.
According to the Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Armoor V Raghu, a local resident who was alert at the time of incident managed to rescue Ravikanth, who hails from Manikbandar, before he too was washed away.
Speaking to TNM, the ACP said, "Families had come to celebrate the function, as it was underway the now deceased men decided to take a bath in the river. As they got into waters, they ventured too deep without knowing the intensity of the flow. Six of them drowned before they washed away and one person was saved by a bystander."
The ACP added, "Locals and fishermen tried to save them but unfortunately the attempts were not successful." The officer said that the local police have been flagging the dangers of increased water levels in the river, so that people are careful.
Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) has also expressed his shock over the incident, and a condolence statement in that regard was issued by Chief Minister's Office.
శ్రీరాంసాగర్ ప్రాజెక్టులో ప్రమాదవశాత్తూ జారిపడి ఆరుగురు మృతి చెందిన దుర్ఘటన పట్ల సీఎం శ్రీ కేసీఆర్ తీవ్ర దిగ్భ్రాంతి వ్యక్తం చేశారు. స్నానం చేయడానికని నదిలో దిగి దురదృష్టవశాత్తు మృత్యువాత పడడం కలచివేసిందని సీఎం విచారం వ్యక్తం చేశారు. వారి కుటుంబ సభ్యులకు ప్రగాఢ సానుభూతి తెలిపారు.
— Telangana CMO (@TelanganaCMO) April 2, 2021
Nizamabad MLC K Kavitha and Nizamabad MP Dharmapuri Arvind have also expressed their grief over the incident, and both the leaders have assured that they will stand by the bereaved families.
All the bodies have been fished out by local fishermen and police authorities. The bodies have been sent to Government Area Hospital at Balkonda for the postmortem.