Hyderabad: A leisure trip to the backwaters of the Sriram Sagar Project (SRSP) ended in tragedy on Sunday when four young men were swept away in a canal in Nizamabad district. Rescue teams recovered the bodies of three of them after hours of search operations, while efforts continued late into the day to trace the fourth missing youth.The incident occurred in the Lakshmi Canal, a backwater stretch of the SRSP on Sunday.According to police, the four friends had gone to the spot for an outing when they accidentally slipped into the fast-flowing water and were swept away. The victims were identified as Arhan (17), a resident of Bhokar in Maharashtra, Kaleem (24), Najuwath (24), and Azeem (24), all residents of Auto Nagar in Nizamabad. Police said all four entered or went too close to the canal when they lost their footing and were carried away by the strong current.
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On receiving information about the incident, Nizamabad Police Commissioner P Sai Chaitanya reached the spot and personally monitored the rescue operation. He reviewed the situation with officials and directed all departments to work in coordination to trace the missing youths at the earliest.Personnel from the police, revenue department, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Fire Services and local expert swimmers launched a joint search operation. Rescue teams faced difficulties because of the strong water flow and the depth of the canal, but continued the operation without interruption.During the search, the bodies of three of the missing youths were recovered from the canal. The search for the fourth missing person was still underway, with NDRF personnel and expert swimmers continuing intensive efforts.Following the tragedy, the Nizamabad police appealed to the public to stay away from reservoirs, backwaters, canals, rivers and other water bodies during the monsoon. Police cautioned that taking selfies, swimming or entering water in areas where the depth and current are unknown can be extremely dangerous, and urged people to follow safety advisories issued by the authorities.
