Daijiworld Media Network - Puttur (SP)
Puttur, Aug 14: Mangalore MP D V Sadanand Gowda has said that the state government will soon initiate action to stop works relating to all the hydel power projects coming up in Dakshina Kannada district, in the backdrop of the Neerakatte tragedy that left six people dead, inflicted a loss of several crores of rupees in terms of damaged dam, washed away machineries etc., besides heaping untold miseries on several villages that experienced flash floods due to the breach of the dam.
Prima facie, this is a case of substandard works. The engineers deputed by the government will check the quality of the dams being built for these dams. Only after they are satisfied, the works will be permitted to proceed, he stated. Preliminary enquiries have revealed that none of the government officials or engineers conducted any inspection of the dam which breached on Wednesday August 13.
It is said that the local manager of Sagar Power Projects which is executing the project, was informed by the locals several months ago, that there was leakage in the dam, through the policemen. Nothing was done to plug the leakage then, contributing to the enormity of the disaster, locals claim. It is also gathered that the site at which the dam was built, had experienced landslides a couple of times during its construction, but it was not considered with seriousness it deserved and technological assessment was not reviewed after these warning signs.
Attempts to seal the minor breaches that were found at the beginning of the monsoon, were made by stacking cement bags there, it is learnt. The locals also contradict the company's claim that it had opened seven out of the eight crest gates of the dam before its power house was flooded, drowning six staff members including two engineers and say that the company overlooked the prospects of the tragedy and opened the crest gates only after six of its personnel got trapped in the flood waters. The entire project site is now submerged under water, and equipment and machineries valued at several crores of rupees have been washed away or rendered useless.
The company was due to start power generation on August 15 and the company officials were said to be in a hurry to ensure that this deadline is met, overlooking safety concerns. The company will now have to wait for at least a year to set right all things and start generating electricity.
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