Bengaluru: Malini and Shalini, sisters who were washed away in the waters of the Arkavathi falls in Kanakpura taluk of Ramnagar district at the Chunchi falls on Sunday afternoon are yet to be traced. Their father Raju is inconsolable.
The rescue operation was carried out under the supervision of the Ramanagar SP Dr Chandragupta and other senior officers. “The place where the tragedy occurred is dangerous. The district administration has issued warnings against entering the water. Despite our warning such incident take place. We will take more measures to prevent such tragedies in future,” he said.Several teams that included men from local police, forest department, fire department and around 15 expert swimmers, resumed the operation on Monday morning which went on till late in the evening. However, the teams failed to recover the bodies. The operation will resume on today.
Malini, 22, and Shalini, 20, both residents of Ittamadu, were among a team of seven members that had gone for an outing on Sunday afternoon. Flash floods came after water was released from the dam constructed across Arkavathi river at Harobele. All the seven were sitting on two separate rocks in the river clicking pictures.?The two sisters failed to realise the flash floods, slipped off the rock and were washed away. However, five others were rescued late in the night.
Malini and Shalini are daughters of Raju and Sarala, a home maker. They had a brother named Bharath, 16, who was one among the rescued. Raju and Sarala were highly inconsolable when they were waiting for the search operation.
“I have been a poor person all along my life, but wanted to my daughters to come up in life,” Raju told a local daily. Malini’s wedding alliance was finalised recently and the wedding was to happen shortly, he added and said: “ I have lost hopes in life.”
Malini, Shalini and Bharath celebrated the birthday of their relative on Saturday. They told their parents that they would offer special pooja at Banashankari temple and return. However, all the three and four of their acquaintances left for the falls on three bikes.
They played in the river for some time as the water level was low.?They sat on a few rocks and captured photographs. Later, Malini and Shalini sat on one rock, while five others were on another when the flash floods arrived.
According to the villagers water was released without prior announcment. According to the villagers, none of the seven would have entered the water if there had been a warning.
