A discharge of water from a dam swept away scores of Hindu pilgrims while they were praying on the banks of the Narmada River in central India, leaving at least 53 dead, senior officials said.
The chief minister of the central state of Madhya Pradesh, Babulal Gaur, told reporters that the bodies of 53 people were recovered over the weekend from Dharaji, near Dewas, some 300 kilometers (186 miles) from the state capital Bhopal.
"We have information that 53 bodies have been recovered so far from the Dharaji site. We are still carrying out rescue operations and are looking for missing people," Gaur said after a tour of affected areas along the Narmada.
Local police chief Swaraj Puri told AFP that 35 people were still reported missing.
According to witnesses, some 25,000 people had gathered on the banks of the Narmada at Dharaji to offer prayers during a two-day festival which started Thursday.
Locals said the river rose suddenly on Thursday after the state-run National Hydel Development Corporation (NHDC) released water from the Indira Sagar reservoir on the heavily dammed Narmada river.
A senior company official told reporters in Bhopal that the firm had released 60 cubic meters (2,118 cubic foot) of water as part of an eight-day power generation plan.
"We had planned to release 60 cubic meters of water every day for eight days. It was the district administration's job to warn the pilgrims and the NHDC of the crowds congregating on the banks of the Narmada," said S.K Dodeja, chief of NHDC in Bhopal.
"Lack of coordination between the local authorities and NHDC had led to the misunderstanding," he added.
The level of the Narmada has now receded after the dam gates were hurriedly closed, allowing rescue parties to scour the river in search of missing people.
"Several people are missing from our group which comprised nearly 44 people. We have sent out boats to try and find them," said Krishna Kumar, who led the group to the Hindu fair in Dharaji from neighbouring Ratlam village.
Gaur ordered a probe into the incident and said criminal cases would be brought against government officials found "negligent".
"I will present my report within 15 days and the brief includes not just finding out reasons for the tragedy but ways to prevent it in the future," Arvind Joshi, a senior Madhya Pradesh state official who is heading the probe, told reporters.
The controversial Narmada Valley project involves the building of 3,000 dams across three states on the Narmada and its tributaries.
The Indira Sagar dam, which is the second biggest dam in Madhya Pradesh, is being built to generate 1,000 megawatts of electricity to help meet the state's power shortfall.
Thousands of families have been moved to make way for the dams of varying sizes in the states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
The Narmada project has been surrounded by controversy since its inception nearly a decade ago. For four years, the project stalled as environmentalists and villagers took their case to the courts.
Work resumed in 2000 after India's Supreme Court said it was satisfied with the government's plans to relocate displaced villagers and tribal people.
The government says the dams will bring drinking water to 40 million people, generate electricity and irrigate land.
Critics say the human cost and environmental risks far outweigh the proposed benefits.