JOIN USThe last rites of G Aishwarya, performed at the Swargadham crematorium in Alwal of Secunderabad, were attended by people who never met her or her parents.
They came from different walks of life—including political leaders from the TDP, the TRS and the Congress, her neighbours in Golnaka of Alwal, her friends and few parents with children of her age.
Her smiling face on the photo kept near the pyre lit by her father reminded everyone how fate has cruelly ended a bright life.
Aishwarya, born on December 8, 1994, had lost her life to the gushing waters of the river Beas in Himachal Pradesh. Her body arrived here before midnight on Monday, along with those of her friends Rambabu, Vijetha and Lakshmi Gayatri. The eerie silence at the tarmac was pierced by the cries of parents who had been holding back tears for quite some time.
Waiting ambulances carried the bodies of Rambabu, Vijetha and Lakshmi to their homes in Bikyatanda of Mothe village in Nalgonda, Silver Oaks Bungalow in Charlapalli and Eenadu Colony, Kukatpalli, respectively, besides Aishwarya’s to her home.
With news arriving of two more bodies having been fished out, the parents of the remaining 18 students lost hope of seeing their wards alive, except for the guardians of Muppidi Kirankumar of Khammam.
“My son is a swimmer, and his friends are saying that he was swept away by the strong currents only after he saved four lives,” said his father Venkataramana. He still hopes that his son might have reached the riverbanks downstream.
Ban on tours
On Tuesday, a press release from the state government said the body of Debashish Bose of Central Excise Colony would reach Hyderabad by Tuesday night, along with the parents of some of the missing and a few surviving students.
“I think they have lost all hope and are returning home, at least to take care of other family members. The NDMA officials hinted that bodies could be retrieved only after they bloat up and float to the surface. No parent would like to see that,” said a TDP functionary coordinating efforts at the airport.
The special Air Costa flight arriving from Chandigarh has been arranged by the TDP, which had brought back the bodies on Monday.
Meanwhile, the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University here has banned industrial tours for engineering students enrolled in all its affiliated colleges with immediate effect.