2,500 people hit as portion of Bargi Dam canal collapses
| Date :29-May-2019 |
Staff Reporter:
Collector Deepak Saxena, while talking to ‘The Hitavada’, informed that about 20-feet left portion of left bank canal collapsed due to continuous leekage. Separate teams of district administration, civic authority and Police Department were deployed to rescue villagers and livestock at affected villages.
The gushing water swept away pulse crops at more than 150 acres cultivated area and entered Gotegaon. Announcement was done at low-lying areas to evacuate the area and rescue teams were sent to shift people to safer places. Exact loss of crops can be estimated only after the water recedes.
MORE than 2,500 people were affected and crops spread over hundreds of acres was swept away after 20-feet wide portion of left bank canal of Rani Avanti Bai Sagar Pariyojana (Bargi Dam) collapsed at Latgaon village in Gotegaon tehsil of Narsinghpur district on Tuesday evening. Left portion of the canal at around 63 kms from Bargi Dam collapsed due to leakage and dozens of villages were affected due to water-logging. The gushing water swept away moong and arhar pulse crops at more than 150 acres cultivated area and entered Gotegaon. Learning about the incident, senior officers of Narmada Valley Development Authority (NVDA), district administration and Police Department reached the spot and monitored the situation. Collector Deepak Saxena, while talking to ‘The Hitavada’, informed that about 20-feet left portion of left bank canal collapsed due to continuous leakage. Separate teams of district administration, civic authority and Police Department were deployed to rescue villagers and livestock at affected villages. Announcement was done at low-lying areas to evacuate the area and rescue teams were sent to shift people to safer places. Around 2,500 persons have been affected in the incident but exact loss of crops can be estimated only after the water recedes.
Adequate efforts were made to avoid threat to villagers, livestock and properties as canal water entered the city area till late night. He further informed that as per primary analysis course of water discharged from damaged canal may have gushed the city by 2 am and merged into river Narmada passing through Khamaria village. Narmada Valley Development Authority (NVDA), Chief Engineer, Gotegaon Division, Balveer Singh Dhurve informed this newspaper that an old portion of left bank canal around 63 kilometres of Bargi Dam collapsed and water entered the villages on Tuesday evening. Acting promptly on the information, water discharging from Bargi Dam was immediately stopped and flow of water was diverted from stop gates through escape way towards Sauner river.
Exact reason behind collapse of canal can be ascertained only after inquiring into the matter. Besides this, Superintendent of Police Gurkaran Singh, Additional SP Rajesh Tiwari along with police team reached the spot and monitored the rescue operation. The incident led to water-logging at several adjoining villages situated at left portion of the canal, while crops which were to be harvested in next 4 to 5 days were damaged.