Mandi (Himachal Pradesh), June 11 (IANS): The Telangana government Wednesday sought the help of the army to speed up the operation to locate the remaining 19 of the 24 students and a tour operator who were washed away in the Beas river.
Telangana Home Minister Nayani Narasimha Reddy, who is camping here, said: "Our leader Jitendra Reddy met (Union Home Minister) Rajnath Singh today (Wednesday) and urged that at least 500 army men be put on the job to speed up the search operation."
He said though the state government and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were doing their best but the army assistance would speed up the operation.
Reddy told reporters that the Telanganaa government has also written to the defence ministry for early army help.
The search parties from the NDRF and divers of the army are struggling to locate the remaining students and the tour operator.
More than 60 students and faculty members of the V.N.R. Vignana Jyothi Institute of Engineering and Technology in Hyderabad were on an excursion to Manali.
Some of them were getting themselves photographed on the bank of the river Sunday evening when a wall of water washed them away.
The police have registered a case against the hydropower project authorities for causing death by negligence and endangering life of others.