Kamareddy: Four of a family drown in Manjira River

Kamareddy: Four members of a family drowned in the manjira river on Thursday. They belonged to Bichkunda mandal of Jukkal constituency in Kamareddy district. The incident took place on their way to visit the Birpur Dargah on the other side of the Manjira River from Shetlur village, the villagers said.

Anjavva (40), a resident of Shetluru village, along with her children Jyoti (17), Gangotri (12) and Chintu (Prashanth) (07) left for Birkoor Dharga on the other side of the Manjira on Thursday.

Tensions erupted when villagers protested that the tragedy had taken place as sand quarry operators were digging huge pits. The villagers demanded that the quarry operators pay compensation to the families of the deceased. It was their habit to walk as usual from the Manjira River every Friday. The Manjira River has been watering up to the knees since it rained three days ago at the top. A huge pit was formed when the sand quarry operators recently dug sand beyond the limit there. The four of them got lost in the riverbed as they were taking steps that they thought were usually smooth and flat.

The villagers said that the incident took place as the pits created by the new sand quarry excavations in the Manjirana river were filled with water and these would be fatal to our villagers in the future as well. The bodies of Anjavva, Jyoti and Prashant were found on Saturday morning. Gangotri's body was found late after a search operation was carried out. The villagers alleged that the incident took place due to heavy digging by sand quarry operators in the Manjira River. The families of the deceased have demanded compensation.