3 students drown in River Nethravathi, AMR power project blamed

3 students drown in River Nethravathi, AMR power project blamed

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, Dec 6, 2011: Three students, identified as Jithesh (17), Yashodhar (21), and Laxmeesha (19), drowned in River Nethravathi at Nandavar, Panemangalore on the afternoon of Dec 6. 

Since it was a holiday on account of Muharram, the trio had gone to work in the fields, after which they went to the river to wash. The three were good swimmers and the water level was quite low where they dived in. However, when they were in the river, the AMR power project located nearby opened its gates and released water, resulting in a sudden rise in the water level.

 

 

Kasim, Abdul Khader, and Abdul Rahman tried their best to rescue the trio, but failed. Later, the local people and the police arrived on the spot and retrieved the bodies of Laxmeesha and Jithendra. Yashodhar’s body was found much later. 

Jithesh and Laxmeesha were the sons of Shantappa Gowda. Laxmeesha was a student of ITI Polytechnic in Sundarkatte and Jithesh was doing his PUC in Puttur. Yashodhar of Kadaba was a student of Mangalore University. 

The local people, meanwhile, are in a state of shock. They say that the power project is in the habit of releasing water without warning. Although the people had repeatedly informed concerned authorities about the dangers of this, the power project has ignored all public appeals. 

One of the local people demanded compensation for the bereaved families. 

Padmanabha Kottary and Ramanath Rai visited the spot. 

The Bantwal police have registered a case and are currently conducting investigations, trying to find out if the power plant had let off a siren or any other warning signal before releasing the water.