Aug 2024: Karchul Earthen Dam Breach in Shahdol-Madhya Pradesh a wake up call

On Aug 28 2024, the earthen wall of the Karchul Dam in Jetpur Tehsil of Shahdol district in Madhya Pradesh breached. A mid night operation [i] had to be conducted to shift about 52 people to safe location in a community building three km away in Bhathia. The Times of India reported: “Officials said that the erosion was severe and the rising water level posed a significant risk.” The dam was full due to recent heavy rains, and the earthen wall of the dam breached, leading to flooding in residential area and panic in the village [ii].

The dam has reservoir with 0.6 million cubic meters capacity and it was built in 2000. It had irrigation capacity of 65 Ha. The people have alleged lack of adequate maintenance of the dam. It was locals who alerted the water resources department about the breach. The Water Resources Department reportedly tried to stop the breach but when that did not work, the district administration and police were alerted.

TV channels had carried stories related to the breach, including: Karchul Dam breach news on IBC24 [iii] and Another video news [iv]. The prompt action by the govt to shift the people to safe location is welcome, but one hopes there will be credible investigation to understand the reasons for the breach and lack of maintenance as alleged by people.

Since a very large number of Indian dams are earthen dams, this is a wake up call to ensure their proper maintenance and adequate spillway capacity in keeping with the changing rainfall pattern. This breach is yet another wake up call that all such dams can be a source of disaster when not adequately maintained or when they do not have adequate spillway capacity.

SANDRP (ht.sandrp@gmail.com)