RAJANNA-SIRCILLA: Six high-school students from Rajiv Nagar Colony in Sircilla drowned in a check-dam constructed on the Manair river on Monday. NDRF teams retrieved five bodies in a rescue operation that has been ongoing for the past 24 hours.
Circle Inspector (CI) B Upender said that nine students from the Zilla Parishad High School in Sircilla had gone for a swim in the check-dam. The waters were deeper than they had anticipated and six of them drowned instantly. Horrified, their friends rushed home to get help. Fifteen-year-old Kolipaka Ganesh’s body was retrieved on Monday, while the bodies of Jadala Venkata Sai (14), Teegala Ajay (14), Konga Rakesh (15) and Sriram Kranthi Kumar (14) were found only on Tuesday. The body of 14-year-old Singam Manoj is yet to be found.
Sircilla MLA and IT Minister KT Rama Rao and TS Planning Board vice-chairman B Vinod Kumar expressed shock over the incident. Rama Rao sent DRF teams from Hyderabad for the rescue operation and directed the Collector and SP to oversee the same.
The recent rains had caused a deep ditch to form in the area where the tragedy had occurred. Rama Rao urged the public to be cautious while venturing into water bodies in Sircilla as most of them were overflowing. He assured that the State would look after the families of the victims.