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| Sunday, 25 August 2002 |
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Thousands evacuated as dam in north India develops 'massive' leak BHOPAL, India, Aug 24 (AFP) More than 10,000 people have been moved to safer places as a huge earthen dam in northern India developed a "massive" leak, an official said Saturday. Evacuation work in about 14 villages began soon after the almost 88-year-old Ahmadpur dam in Balaghat district of Madhya Pradesh state developed the breach Friday night due to flooding caused by heavy rains. The official said the mass evacuation was arranged as it was feared the dam might soon burst. On Wednesday, 10 people died and 24 others went missing after the Jamuniya dam burst in the same state, submerging about two dozen villages. The Ahmadpur dam is smaller than Jamuniya dam with a capacity of about 250 million cubic feet (7.5 million cubic metres) of water. Balghat officials led by administrator Rajesh Rajora have been camped at Ahmadpur since Friday night when the breach was first noticed. "We have evacuated all the villages in the neighbourhood and have been putting sandbags at the massive breach. So far things are under control," Rajora told AFP by telephone. Like the Jamuniya dam, the Ahmadpur dam is an earthen embankment of the same vintage. It was built around 1914 by the British for irrigating about 40 villages in the block. Last year the dam also developed a breach but was repaired by the irrigation department. However, Rajora said the reinforcement work on the three-kilometre (two mile) long earthen structure was not properly carried out, leading to the fresh damage. Balaghat district has about 26 dams, most of them of the same vintage. None is considered safe and at least five have been leaking following incessant rains over the past five days. |
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