Acknowledging that the construction of the Temghar dam, one of Pune’s drinking water lifelines, was ‘faulty’, Maharashtra Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan on Thursday said that a case of cheating would be lodged against two of the construction firms responsible for erecting the dam.
Mr. Mahajan said that a case under sections 420 (cheating), 406 and 409 (criminal breach of trust) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) will be lodged against the concerned officials, engineers and contractors of the two outfits: Shrinivas Construction and Progressive Construction.
The Minister further directed that the two firms be blacklisted.
“I had asked for further information following reports about cracks in the dam wall. The reports indicate that the work done by these two firms is second-rate. Accordingly, I have directed action to be taken against them in a bid to preclude any further damage and danger to the dam architecture,” Mr. Mahajan said, adding that tenders had been floated and a fund amount of Rs. 95 crore had been earmarked for the maintenance and repair of the dam.
“Once the water level of the dam drops, the work to overcome the defects will be initiated,” he said.
Mr. Mahajan’s statement is something of a volte-face from his remarks of August 6, in which he had asserted that the reservoir was “safe and strong” and that there was “no need to panic” following an inspection of the dam structure.
His inspection came in the wake of reports about possible “cracks” in the wall of the dam, located in Mulshi Taluka in Pune district. Following his review, Mr. Mahajan had set up a probe to inquire into the defects in the 15-year-old dam.
Temghar, along with Khadakwasla, Varasgaon and Panshet, is one of the four dams sited in the Mula-Mutha river sub-basin, which supplies water to Pune city.
At the time of his review earlier this month, Mr. Mahajan had euphemistically dubbed the “cracks” as “rectifiable deficiencies” while assuring that the defects would be looked into immediately.
“At present, there is no serious threat,” the minister had claimed after his inspection, while adding, however, that officials and contractors would be questioned over the cracks in the dam wall.
The 87-meter high dam has a capacity of holding water of up to four tmcft, and was built between 1997 and 2001.
