Himachal tragedy: AP govt announces ex-gratia

Andhra Pradesh government today announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 5 lakh each to the kin of the 24 students who were washed away due to sudden discharge of water from the reservoir of Larji Hydropower Project in Himachal Pradesh.
Announcing the ex-gratia, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said that this would be in addition to Rs 1.5 lakh announced by the Himachal Pradesh government.
"So far five bodies have been fished out while efforts are on to recover other bodies. Union Civil Aviation Minister P Ashok Gajapati Raju, state minister P Narayana and ex-MP K Ramamohan Rao are camping in Mandi and monitoring the rescue operations," Chandrababu said.

"I spoke to HP CM Veerbhadra Singh over phone today and inquired about the operations. He explained the efforts being made to trace out the bodies," Chandrababu said.
About 60 students and faculty members of the VNR Vignana Jyothi Institute of Engineering and Technology in Hyderabad were on an excursion to Manali and 25 persons were washed away in flash floods following sudden release of water from reservoir of Larji hydropower project near Thalot on Sunday evening.