The Beas River disaster refers to the 8 June 2014 drowning of 24 second-year engineering students (six female and 18 male) and one tour operator from V.N.R.
The accident took place in the Thalout area (Shalanala Village) of Mandi district and was the result of a sudden surge of river water released upstream from the Larji hydro electric project.
Two students Raman Teja Venigalla & Biswas Nandamuri[6][7] were alarmed when men on the shore collecting sand began to point and yell "Dam"[7] just a few seconds before the water gushed in.
[8] An initial probe suggested that Larji power project was asked to reduce generation on the day of the tragedy but that plant officials instead shut it down.
[14] It has been reported by some news agencies that the Larji hydroelectric power project has been involved with local sand mafia and this was what made the officials open the gates without proper control.