Rescuers during a search operation to locate the bodies.
The Himachal Pradesh High Court today said it was not satisfied with the status-report filed by the state government on the June 8 tragedy in which 24 students from a Hyderabad engineering college were killed in the Beas river, and asked it to be ready to pay a heavy interim compensation to the families of the victims.
"Too much time is being taken by the divisional commissioner to complete his inquiry into the incident,'' the court said. It directed the official heading the inquiry to be present in the court on June 19, the next date of hearing.
The court asked the management of the Larji dam to submit a separate status report on whether norms were followed in releasing water. It has asked them to submit log sheets and registers on the water release.
The court also issued a notice to the principal of the V.N.R. Vignana Jyothi Institute of Engineering and Technology in Hyderabad. The victims were from this Hyderabad-based engineering college. They were standing on the Beas river's edge on Sunday evening taking photographs when they were hit by a torrent of water released from the dam. Bodies of eight students have been recovered so far.
Taking suo-motu cognizance of the tragedy, the High Court had on June 10 directed the state government to file a report by today on its investigation into the tragedy.
"Going by the content of news items, it is a sad tale that sheer fun of young students turned fatal as a consequence of utter and callous negligence of power project authorities," said a judge.
The court said in case "water was discharged without any warning as alleged, then prima facie it is established that it is not only a case of callousness but a case of grave negligence".