As the Tehri dam takes shape, the reservoir at the confluence of the Bagirathi and the Bhilgana rivers has taken the proportions of a sea and it is all set to change the history and the geography of the town.

The 189-year-old town is sinking by inches. The low-lying areas are already under water and the higher lands will soon be submerged.

Many hamlets, now on the periphery of the lake and likely to be submerged in a month or two, are beginning to fall silent as people leave.

Rooftops of houses have caved in and the edge of the blue waters muddied with the rich soil of sinking fields and floating debris.

The government calls Tehri dam a milestone in its development programme. Its decades-long efforts will now come to fruition. It claims to have recompensed the old town's residents by relocating them in a brand new Tehri.

But there are still murmurs of discontent.

It is yet to be seen how many megawatts of electricity will be generated by Asia's biggest hydroelectric project, how many hectares of land it will irrigate and to how many millions of households it will bring drinking water.

Official statistics of what is the financial loss to ONGC due to the fire are not available. But reports say it could be as high as Rs 32,000 crore. The platform that was gutted in the fire was insured for $195 million.

A head-on collision between freight and passenger express train killed 18 in Vadodara, Gujarat on April 21, 2005.