Man washed away in Beas, another rescued

SHIMLA: Tourists visiting Kullu and Manali have not learnt any lesson from the last year's tragedy where 24 engineering students had drowned while taking photographs along the banks of the Beas. While the administration has installed warning signs along the Mandi-Kullu highway to keep tourists away from river banks, the tourists are not giving up the temptation of taking photographs along the river bank at the cost of their lives.In one such incident, a tourist from Delhi was washed away while another was saved from Panarsa area of Mandi district on Tuesday.
Two tourists from Delhi identified as Ashish Varma (26) and his uncle Ishwar Dass were returning to Delhi from Manali when they stopped at a roadside dhabha in Panarsa. According to sources, Ashish and his uncle went to click photographs on the bank of the river. While Ashish was taking his photograph, Ishwar Dass slipped and fell into the river. In a bid to save him Ashish too fell into the river. The dhaba owner and other residents rushed to save them but were able to pull Ishwar Dass out of river while the strong current washed away Ashish.
On Tuesday morning, Mandi police launched a search operation but could not find the missing body.
Following this incident neither the tourists are taking any precautions by avoiding the banks of Beas river, nor the dhaba owners are advising them about the lurking danger.
Mandi SP Mohit Chawla said for the safety of tourists fencing has been done along the Mandi-Manali highway at strategic locations, besides warning signs have also been put up. "But the tourists are not paying attention to the warning signs and continue to walk up to the river banks," he said.
The cop added, "While the tourists did not pay attention to the warning sign installed right in front of the dhaba, the dhaba owner also did not inform them about the danger."
At several places between Mandi and Manali, tourists can be seen enjoying near in the river ignoring the fact that it can be dangerous, sources added. After the June 8 tragedy, the Mandi and Kullu administrations have installed warning sign boards at many places requesting the tourists not to go near the, river but it has failed to stop them.