(Feature image: Flood water rushing through damaged portion of Lateri stop dam. Source: Hum Samvet)
Portion of a stop dam in Lateri Block of Vidisha district of Madhya Pradesh collapsed in morning hours of Monday, August 22, 2022 amidst heavy rains. The earthen dam is located at Islamnagar near Murvas in Lateri block of Vidisha district. The stop dam in Betwa basin is reportedly built a year ago by forest department. The reason behind the collapse is stated to be heavy rainfall.
The incident has flooded farming land and damaged crops belonging to seven villages in downstream areas. There are reports of flash flood washing away agricultural equipment, pipes of some farmers. The administration had to evacuate affected villagers to safer places before the deluge. There is no report of any human causality due to the incident.
As per reports, Vidisha district as a whole witnessed 140.2 mm rainfall in 24 hours from 08.30 am to 08.30 am on August 21-22, 2022 while the Lateri block alone recorded 205 mm rainfall in this period. Vidisha district also had 48.7 mm rainfall for the 24 hours ending at 08:30 hours on Aug 21, 2022.
All water bodies in the area were full and overflowing as a result of downpour. Amid this, the portion of stop dam wall collapsed. There is no information on storage capacity, water impoundment, inflows and outflows from the stop dam at the time of incident.
As per Nai Dunia report, protection wall of a water body in Boodhi Bagrod village under Basouda tehsil of Vidisha has also suffered damages and started leaking. Same structure had faced damages last year but was not repaired by administration despite villagers complaints resulting in bigger cracks this time.
Similarly Hum Samvet, a local news media has mentioned about cracks and leakages from Ghoghari dam (built in 2014) under Umaria district posing threat to safety of the structure. As a precautionary measures the administration has shifted people from three villages to safer location. The administration is trying to plug the leakages by earth filling work.
SANDRP (bhim.sandrp@gmail.com)
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