Mandi, December 21
Mystery shrouds the recovery of two dead bodies of college girl students — one hanging from a tree near Pandoh and another laying dead on the bank of the Rana khud in Jogindernagar during the past two days.

Though the police claimed that both were the “cases of suicide”, the girls’ parents suspect foul play in the incidents as the police has recovered no suicide notes or evidence from the spots.

The police today identified the body found on December 19 on the bank of the Rana khud as that of Monika Thakur, daughter of Mr Jagat Singh of Druppal village under Jogindernagar police station. Monika was a student of BA (II) at DAV College, Kangra, but her parents have shifted to their native village here, the police said.

Her body was spotted by villagers at Machhial along the Rana khud. She probably died of drowning in the khud, the police said. “We have called the father of the girl tomorrow here,” the police added.

In another case, the police recovered the body of a girl hanging from a tree near Pandoh last evening. The body has been identified as that of Dharna, a student of BA(I) of Postgraduate Government College, Mandi.

Though the police has registered a case under 306, IPC. The father of the girl, Mr Tek Singh, alleged that she was with her friend at a temple in Mandi yesterday along with two boys known to them. “She was engaged and had given her consent for marriage scheduled for February next year,” he claimed, suspecting foul play in her death.

The Sub-Inspector of Pandoh police station said that the girl took a three-wheeler (HP-05-757) from Mandi for Pandoh and paid him Rs 140. “She probably committed suicide by hanging herself with her ‘chuni’ from a tree. She might have taken the extreme step as she had an affair with a boy, but her father was getting her married elsewhere,” the police claimed.

Shimla, December 21
High-tech tunneling, with the objective of improving connectivity and promoting tourism, could be the next big thing on the government’s agenda as a London-based international company has expressed keenness to take up mega projects in Himachal Pradesh.

The London-based company, D. S. Constructions, has already sent its expression of interest to the Infrastructure Development Board for undertaking work on Swarghat tunnel and three other tunnels in the capital town of Shimla.

Having expertise in tunneling work, railways, power and urban development, the company is already engaged in constructing the Delhi-Gurgaon flyover.

The cost of constructing the Swarghat tunnel would be over Rs 700 crore. Given the dire need for better connectivity in the capital town, three tunnels would be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 100 crore.

One tunnel, 1200-m-long, would be constructed between Himfed petrol pump and Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC), another from Lift to Himfed (950 m) and the third one from Lift to the Idgah in Lakkar Bazar of about 350 m.

Seeing the traffic congestion and overcrowding in the capital town, the government is keen that these projects are started at the earliest. As such the matter is likely to be taken up by the state cabinet at its next meeting.

The company is keen that work on all three tunnels is undertaken simultaneously as it would take about 18 months for completion.

The same company is also keen to take up the task of setting up the Special Economic Zone (SEZ), proposed for Kangra and Una, announced recently by the government.

The government is interested to push forward the Swarghat tunnel, which would reduce the distance by almost 10 km on the Chandigarh-Manali highway. There is a huge rush of vehicles on this route as people coming from Delhi and Chandigarh take this route for reaching Manali.

“The project will be taken up on build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis as a result of which the government will not have to make any investment,” informed a senior government functionary.

“It is only by constructing more by-passes and tunnels that we can reduce congestion in the town, which is already over burdened not just with constructions but also in terms of the number of vehicles,” says an official from the Town and Country Planning (TCP) Department.

Having been turned into a virtual concrete jungle, the government wants better traffic management in the town, which is flooded by tourists during the summers. “We are hopeful that under the National Urban Renewal Mission, in which 63 cities, including Shimla, have been included, a lot of money would be available for constructing tunnels, by-passes, parking lots and other such civic amenities,” he adds.

Dharamsala, December 21
The cash-for-questions expose involving a BJP MP from the state, is likely to put the BJP on the defensive in the forthcoming session of the state Assembly starting from December 26.

Congress MLA here, Ms Chandresh Kumari and Shahpur MLA, Vijai Singh Mankotia, told The Tribune on telephone that the Congress would launch an offensive against the BJP over the alleged involvement of Mr Suresh Chandel, BJP MP from Hamirpur, in operation Duryodhana.

Mr Mankotia said even though the scandal involved public representatives in Parliament, it would definitely have an echo in the state Assembly, as it was a matter of concern for every voter.

Former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, however, said there was no reason for the BJP to be on the defensive and they would take an offensive view of widespread corruption in government departments like the PWD and the IPH during the Assembly session. Law and order situation, rising unemployment and scandals such as recruitment on chits would be enough to put the government to shame, he said.

“We would rather be on the offensive on the Volcker report on oil-for-food scam, anomalies in the Skii village, rising prices and Mumbai Musical Blast held in Kangra early this year,” he said. Moreover, added Mr Dhumal, more tapes of operation Duryodhan were yet to come out and who knows there could be more Congress MPs shown accepting money. He added it was a big achievement for the BJP that the Congress government had agreed to hold a session of the state Assembly in Dharamsala as it had been his party’s demand.

BJP leader and former-Transport Minister Kishan Kapoor said the charges made in operation Duryodhana had not been proved and it could be a frame-up.

There was no point in holding winter sessions of the Assembly in Dharamsala if the government did not make necessary budget allocations for infrastructure in the form of second phase of the Mini Secretariat, as proposed by the BJP.

Mr Suresh Chandel is one of the 11 MPs caught on camera in a sting operation by CobraPost.com and Aaj Tak, made public on December 12.

Meanwhile, Mr Mankotia said that he would not release the list of corrupt servants in the state he has been working on before the Assembly session. He, however, said he would like to raise the issue of shortage of drinking water in the Kangra belt and growing unemployment.

He would also seek a clarification from the government on the issue of declaring Dharamsala second capital of the state.

Mandi, December 21
The freezing of water sources of the Sutlej, Ravi, Beas and Chenab, including their tributaries, has hit power generation by one-sixth of the installed capacity in the state as the inflow in the rivers has dipped drastically over the past few days.

According to the latest inputs received from the operating power houses, the inflow in the rivers has reduced by over one sixth of its peak level during the monsoon this year as most of the water sources have frozen due to the falling temperatures to a sub-zero level.

As a result, most of the power projects run by the HPSEB, BBMB, and PSEB have registered a drastic fall in power generation.

The generation in the BBMB’s 990 MW Beas-Sutlej link project here has reduced to 29.43 lakh per day from 34 lakh units reported last week, BBMB engineers say.

The saving grace is that both reservoirs of the Bhakhra in Bilaspur and Pong in Kangra district still have about over 80 to 60 ft higher water level in dams than what was reported last year, said Mr D.P. Geol, Chief Engineer, BBMB.

On the other hand, HPSEB-run power projects-Andhra, Bhawa, Giri, Guma, Ghanvi, Chaba, Nogli, Binwa, Baner, Bassi and Gaj and the PSEB-run Shanan project in Mandi — have reported a drastic decrease in generation.

The capacity of these projects is about 317.17 MW, but these are generation over 1.472 million units per day.

Shimla, December 21
Having spent over Rs 100 crore on modern sewerage and water distribution for Shimla, the government is in a dilemma as the Municipal Corporation (MC) has refused to take the responsibility of running it due to lack of funds and staff.

The Rs 76 crore Oil Producing and Exporting Country (OPEC)-funded sewerage system was inaugurated on October 2, this year but has not been made functional for the inability of the MC to run it. The OPEC had provided Rs 41 crore for the project while the remaining amount was spent by the government.

The MC was to take over the plant after completion. The Irrigation and Public Health Department will run main treatment plant but the pipes will be laid by the MC.

The MC has refused to take over the system due to lack of money to lay the pipes and complete the connectivity. “We do not have the money to connect the system through pipes and maintain it, for which Rs 4 crore is required,” said Mr Sohan Lal, Mayor.

He said that the MC had requested the government to provide at least Rs 4 crore annually and an additional staff of 25 people. “We intend to pass a resolution in the MC meeting and request the government again to provide us the money to lay pipes and complete connectivity so that the system can be made functional,” he said.

On new water distribution system the MC says that it can make it operational only if they are get an additional 15 gallons of water per day. Against a minimum requirement of 70 lakh gallons per day, the MC gets only 55 lakh gallons per day. “Making these 18 tanks operational would not be possible till we are given additional water,” say MC officials.

A total of 18 tanks have been constructed of which six have been handed over to the MC by the IPH Department for distribution of water in the town.

On the other hand sources in the IPH department said that the MC was dilly-dallying over the matter citing paucity of funds. “If they seriously take up the matter, the IPH department can help them out even in terms of funding,” said an IPH official. He said the MC still owed Rs 13 crore to the IPH Department as arrears for the supply of water.

Projects worth Rs 100 crore, seen to be a complete waste.

Shimla, December 21
The government is proposing that employees posted in the tribal and other difficult areas would be eligible for a transfer after completing their full tenure. This was stated by the Irrigation and Public Health minister, Mr Kaul Singh Thakur, who presided over the meeting of the new transfer policy committee here today. “Our efforts are to formulate a transparent, clear and employees oriented policy which would help increase efficiency in the interest of general public,” he said.

He also said substitutes should be provided within minimum possible time in the tribal areas so that the pace of development did not get affected. The draft of the new policy was discussed and some amendments were carried out.

Before finalising the new policy, a meeting of different NGO associations would be convened so that their suggestions and views could be incorporated in the policy.

The Chief Secretary, Mr S.S. Parmar, said the government was committed towards providing a responsive and efficient administration.