In an ironic incident, a part of a dam worth Rs. 389.31 crores collapsed in Bihar just before its inauguration by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
The Gateshwar Panth Canal Project was an expensive one and even before it could be inaugurated it got damaged. Minister of Water Resources, Lallan Singh says otherwise, “The dam broke due to the release of water in full capacity. The incident has not caused any damage to the newly constructed part of the project.”
Due to the unfortunate incident, the inauguration ceremony has been canceled by the state government.
The Bihar Government planned the Bateshwarasthan Ganga Pump Canal Project as part of the irrigation scheme at Kahalgaon in Bhagalpur. The total amount for the scheme came up to a whopping Rs. 389.31 crores.
This Canal Project was a very old project and took a long time to complete. The dam was made with the purpose to collect water in the canal and ensure the farmers of the state would not have to face water scarcity.
The dam collapsing caused a lot of havoc in the surrounding areas as waterlogged many roads and entered the houses in low lying areas.
The news took a while to reach the officials but once the information came in they rushed reinforcements to the dam.
This dam project was to benefit Jharkhand as well. The irrigation facility was going to be made available to 18,620 hectares in Bhagalpur and 22658 hectares in Godda district in Jharkhand.
