The spree of TN students getting drowned at Nagalapuram Falls in Chittoor district led to one more tragedy on Monday, with the victim being a Chennai-based engineering student. This has forced the forest and police department officials to close the reserve forest location for public for the next six months. A batch of seven engineering students from Chennai arrived at the Bhupateswara Kona hilly terrain of waterfalls zone, 15 km from Nagalapuram mandal headquarters, in three bikes on Sunday evening.
Around 7 p.m., one of them, Anand (20) in a highly drunken state took a dive into a waterbody for swimming, despite his colleagues warning him not to do so. As the boy did not surface on water even after several minutes, the students grew tense and sought the help of local people to search for him. By 8 p.m., the police and forest officials launched search operation, which was postponed to Monday morning due to darkness.
‘Under liquor influence’
The body of Anand was traced in a cavity between rocks along the swirling waters, a kilometre away from the place where he made a fatal dive, after a seven-hour search at 1 p.m. on Monday. Nagalapuram Sub-Inspector Chandrasekhar confirmed that the students were under influence of liquor. The deceased hailed from Aiynavaram locality of Chennai. The body would be handed over to family members after autopsy.
For record, since January this year, as many as five students from Chennai drowned in the waterfalls at various locations, including Saddikuti Madugu nearby, in three different incidents. The police observed that all the casualties were due to liquor consumption and adventurous attempt to swim in drunken state.
Sub-Inspector Chandrasekhar said that several batches of youth from Chennai and surrounding areas of TN border were venturing into the waterfalls zone in motorbikes, unmindful of rough terrain. “They hoodwink the police and forest officials, mostly at dusk, and reach the waterfalls after a gruelling 4 km trek,” he said. The official said that the youth who venture into reserve forest would be arrested, and their bikes would be seized from Monday. Forest Range Officer (Satyavedu) J. Prasada Rao said that as per the instructions of the Divisional Forest Officer (Chittoor East),the waterfalls zone, including Saddikuti Madugu and Bhupateswara Kona, would be closed to public for the next six months.
