Chandora was distressed dam, safety neglected, says expert

New Delhi, Aug 10 (UNI) Expressing concern over the breach of World bank-funded Chandora dam on Tapti river in Madhya Pradesh, environmentalist and water activist Himanshu Thakkar today said safety measures relating to large dams were neglected in the country.

He also called for a review of policy on large dams.

''Chandora is one of the 168 distressed dams of Madhya Pradesh, so it was very surprising that despite the fact its reservoir was filled to the full and that too in the peak of monsoon,'' Mr Thakkar said.

Way back in 1992, the dam had developed a breach, and it seems it was under rehabilitation in 1999. The breach in the 21-year-old dam raises many questions, he told UNI.

He felt that the inflow into a dam that has a catchment of only 71 sq km, could be monitored, and should have been monitored when the dam has been described as distressed, and water should have been released in advance. Why was this not done was really very perturbing, he asked.

Since the dam was part of the World Bank funded Dam Safety project, it was expected that all safety measures would have been taken, he said adding that the Madhya Pradesh Government should now learn a lesson from this breach and take appropriate steps for the rest of the distressed and other dams of the state.

He also said the incident also raised many questions on the working of the Central Water Commission.

''What has the Central Water Commission been doing about such distressed dams?'' he said.

The 1200 metre-long Chandora dam developed a breach on August 7 following which various villages were vacated.

Water level of the reservoir was full at 684 metre and it was getting more water due to heavy rains in catchment area, Executive Engineer R C Rathore said.

The dam in Multai tahsil was constructed at a cost of Rs 16 crore with World Bank assistance in 1982 to facilitate irrigation in 3600 hectares and it had breached 15 years ago.

Mr Thakkar said it was unfortunate that no lessons were learnt from the collapse of the Jaswant sagar dam in Rajasthan last month.The is also among the World Bank-funded ones. Recently money released for its safety was spent on things like lighting etc.

More than 100 dams in the country were over 100 years old and they needed immediate attention to avoid any major tragedy, said Mr Thakkar.

UNI