As many as 23 persons were feared dead on Wednesday, after Tiware dam breached in Chipulan taluka of Ratnagiri district in coastal Konkan region and led to a flood-like situation in at least seven downstream villages.
Till evening, bodies of 11 persons were recovered from the bed of the dam by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel, while one person was found alive from a downstream location three kilometres away from the breached dam.
The NDRF teams are searching for 11 more persons who were among who had gone missing after the dam breached around 9.30 pm, an hour after it started overflowing. Following the breach of the dam that took place on Tuesday night, seven downstream villages — Daadar, Akle, Riktoli, Ovali, Kalkavne, Nandivase — were inundated.
Built in 2004, 308 metres long, 28 metres wide and 28 metres tall bridge had a storage capacity of 20 lakh cubic meters. The water from the dam was being used for both drinking water and irrigation purposes.
Relatives of the victims said they had asked district administration to repair the dam as they had spotted cracks in November last year. There was an issue over the jurisdiction of which tehsil Tiware dam falls in, as Chiplun and Dapoli tehsil offices had ignored the plea of the villagers, said a family member of one of the dead.
“It is only because of their negligence that we have seen this day,” he said. “My parents, wife and child of one and a half year is missing,” he added.
Nearly two dozen vehicles belonging mostly to the villagers were washed away in the swollen waters.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis ordered an enquiry into the cause and circumstances leading the breach. “We will fix responsibility for the incident and take action against the erring persons,” Fadnavis said.
Maharashtra Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan who visited the tragedy site, assured the affected people that the state government would rebuild the affected downstream villagers. “Homes of the villagers washed away will be constructed at safe places,” he said.
Mahajan announced that a compensation of Rs 4 lakh each would be given to the kin of those killed in the mishap.
Confirming that the local villagers had complained about the cracks in the dams, Mahajan said: “This dam was built 14 years ago. There were complaints from the villagers about the cracks in the walls of the dam. We will ascertain at which level there was negligence. We will take stern action against those found guilty”.
Disaster Management Officer Ajay Suryawanshi said that all the victims in the dam breach were Bhendewadi hamlet located adjacent to the dam wall. However, no deaths were reported from any of other downstream village.
Upping the ante over the incident, leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly Vijay Wadettiwar demanded that an offence of murder be registered against Shiv Sena MLA Sadananda Chavan and his firm that had constructed the dam.
“In view of the breach of Tiware dam, the state government should conduct structural audit of all the dams in the state. State Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan should accept moral responsibility for the Tiware dam breach and resign from his post,” Wadettiwar said.
Nationalist Congress Party’ national spokesperson Nawab Malik said that though the local residents had warned about the cracks developed the walls of the dam, the irrigation department had not measures to undertake necessary repairs. He demanded that the officials concerned be booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder for lapses.
The Opposition and Congress also demanded that adequate compensation be given the affected families and they be rehabilitated suitable alternative sites.
The authorities pegged the number of affected families from the seven inundated villages at around 750 families involving a population of 3000 people.
Meanwhile, one Baliram K. Chavan, a resident of Bhendewadi resident, who was found alive at a downstream location 3 km away from the Tiware dam, was admitted to a nearby government hospital for treatment, though he had not suffered visible external injuries.
The NDRF personnel, who had been carrying out search operations called off their operation in the evening. They will resume their operation on Thursday morning.
The NDRF and police teams, who are working in tandem, are using sophisticated satellite-aided gadgets to track down the victims who might have been stuck in the sludge, wooded areas en route downstream or under boulders in the vicinity.