Kerala: Students drowned in Periyar due to dried up river, no security
Kochi: Three students from the St Stephen’s college in Delhi drowned in Kerala’s Periyar river on Saturday.
According to reports, the water along the banks of the river had dried up, resulting in water being present farther away from land, in an area that was full of trenches.
Usually, the river was 50-metres-wide, which enabled tourists to swim near the banks. But a few weeks ago, the Bhoothathankettu dam had been closed, leading to the drying up of the river.
When the students went to bathe in the water which was farther away from land, they drowned.
Since the area was affected with man-animal conflicts, forest officials had also restricted visitors from going near the middle of the river.
In the past week, forest authorities had stopped tourists from visiting Paniyeli Poru, the place where the accident took place. As a result, the number of forest officials deployed in the area was also less, said the report. Thus, the students could not be saved.
They were identified as Kennet Jose, 21, Pulikattil Veetil, Meppadi, Waynand, Aditya Patel, 21, hailing from Uttar Pradesh, Anubhav Chandra, 21, of Bihar and Benny Abraham, 50, of Aliyattukudi Veetil, Kallungal Road, near Perumbavoor. Jose, Patel and Chandra were third-year students of BSc physics at St. Stephen’s College and were on a holiday trip to Kerala.
The tragedy took place around 5 pm when the students were bathing near Irumalakkadavu at Paniyeil Poru, a major tourist attraction on the banks of Periyar. The students were staying in a resort owned by Benny near Irumalakkadavu. Benny jumped into the river to rescue the students when he saw them drowning after being caught in a whirlpool.
Hearing the commotion, the local people rushed to the spot and managed to pull out the four, but their lives could not be saved.
The spot is known for its death traps for tourists because of strong undercurrents, though the water is only few feet deep, police said.
The three were part of a 19-member team of students, including Maria, daughter of Benny, who had come on a study tour. They reached Kerala three days ago and visited Wayanad and Thrissur before reaching Perumbavoor on Friday afternoon.
Benny was the assistant manager of the Kolenchery branch of National Insurance Company. He is survived by wife Eliamma, daughters Susan, Raichal, Maria and son-in-law Ray John. Kennet Jose leaves behind his mother Sisy and siblings Dennet and Beninta.
The bodies of the deceased were kept in the mortuary of Perumbavoor taluk hospital. Minister V.S. Sunilkumar, MLAs Eldhos Kunnappilly, Eldhos Abraham, Antony John and former MLA Saju Paul and several others visited the hospital and paid homage to the dead.
