Manikaran tragedy: A Maggi break that became last stop for 3 Hisar students
The three victims, Dhinta, Manish and Gulshan, were part of a group of 17 students from Haryana School of Digital Marketing (HSDM), a coaching institute in Hisar, who had come on a trip
Among the six killed after a tree fell following a landslide near the gurdwara at Manikaran in Himachal were three students from Haryana’s Hisar who had stopped for a Maggi break. At least six others were injured in the mishap.
The three deceased, Dhinta, Manish and Gulshan, were part of a group of 17 students from Haryana School of Digital Marketing (HSDM), a coaching institute in Hisar, who had come on a trip.
Manish hailed from Tara Nagar in Hisar, Gulshan from Dhana Khurd village in Hansi and Dhinta hailed from Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh and studying at Om University in Hisar. Another student, Prachi, a resident of Sector 14 in Hisar, sustained injuries and has been admitted to the Kullu district hospital.
Gulshan’s parents are still unaware of the tragedy. His elder brother and cousin left for Manikaran after getting information about the mishap. One of Gulshan’s relatives said his parents had advised him not to go on the trip as a wedding is scheduled in the family on April 14.
HSDM director Dinesh Jangra said 17 students had gone on a trip to Himachal on March 28 and they were expected to return on March 30.
Himachal police said the bodies were handed over to the victims’ kin after postmortem.
Encroachers on stretch a threat
The public works department (PWD) road opposite the gurdwara, where the accidents occurred, is full of encroachments. District authorities say they got the stretch cleared in January, removing 42 illegal vendors. However, they soon re-occupied the area.
“We will carry out a drive again to remove these vendors. We have regularly been removing vendors from areas prone to disasters,” said sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Vikas Shukla.
A recent study conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Ropar, said 49% of Himachal is prone to medium-risk and 40% to high-risk landslides, floods and avalanches. Kullu was found to be among the districts prone to landslides.
“It comes under Special Area Development Authority (SADA). Locals open the vends on roadside and sublet them to outsiders, posing threat to life and safety,” said Kullu MLA Sunder Singh Thakur.
“I have asked the district administration to remove the encroachments,” he added, expressing displeasure at encroachers setting up vends on roadside.
“We are pressing for developing vending zones, parking areas and basic amenities. The government had provided food vans and now, we will work towards identifying areas where they can be set up without compromising safety and quality of food,” the MLA added.
