Bhopal (MP): A four-member committee has been formed to probe the Karam Dam wall breach in the Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh. The Rs 304 crore under construction dam on Karam river, witnessed a breach in its wall on Sunday, setting the alarm bells ringing. The under-construction dam cracked up amid rains increasing the water level.
The probe committee was set up on Monday to find out the reason behind the breach. The panel comprises Ashish Kumar, additional secretary, water resources department; Rahul Kumar Jaiswal Scientist National Institute of Hydrology; Deepak Satpute, chief engineer, water resources department; and Anil Singh, Director, dam safety. The panel has been entrusted with the task to investigate the matter. They have been told to submit the findings of the investigation within five days.
The cause of the collapse of the dam wall, the quality of material used in the construction of the dam, as well as fixing responsibility on officials under whose supervision the dam is being constructed — will be the focus areas while carrying out the investigation.
Also read: Breach in dam wall in Dhar, people from 11 villages asked to vacate homes
Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath on Tuesday demanded four times compensation for the losses suffered by people affected by the dam wall breach.No FIR was registered and no one was arrested for the dam breach, Nath told reporters after conducting an aerial survey of the damaged under-construction reservoir on the Karam river.
He also claimed that officials have so far not taken care of the affected people and a committee formed by the government to conduct a probe into the dam breach was an attempt to cover up the issue of corruption and inferior quality construction.
The breach in the dam, located some 35 km from the Dhar district headquarters, was reported last Thursday, after which an alert was sounded as 18 villages downstream, including 12 in Dhar and six in Khargone, were in danger of getting inundated, officials had earlier said.
A channel was dug up to drain out water from the dam after the breach. The water started releasing safely through the channel on Sunday, they had said. Nath said, “People have lost their homes, land and crops and they should be given four times compensation for it as per the law brought by the (previous) Congress regime.” “The Congress will raise the voice of the affected people from roads to the state Assembly and will try to help them in all possible ways,” he said.
Nath said when everyone knew the “truth”, why a survey of the damage was going on and why compensation was not paid so far. The former MP chief minister said that even if a survey of the damaged crops is done, what about the damaged land and houses washed away. During Congress rule earlier, when floods hit Mandsaur and Neemuch districts, compensation was paid within a week, he said.
