Residents of Gadhar village in Raichur taluk fear that the tank in the village, spread across 30 acres and full after two years, could breach as a crack has been noticed in the tank bund. A couple of days ago, a tank spread across 40 acres in Yeragera village in the taluk breached, flooding downstream areas.
Water level in the Gadhar village tank reached the maximum limit two days ago following incessant rain in the area. Two gates with protective concrete walls on either side are fixed in the bund for releasing water to agricultural fields. People in Gadhar, particularly those who have taken up sowing in fields downstream the tank, panicked on Thursday after a crack was noticed in the concrete wall.
On learning about it, officials of the Irrigation Department visited the area in the afternoon and strengthened the bund with sandbags, as a temporary measure. The police have advised people to avoid venturing near the tank bund.
However, as rain continued to lash on Friday, residents of Gadhar and neighbouring Upparal were worried as a breach could result in water gushing to both the villages, causing huge damage.
“Dredging of the tank and strengthening of the tank bund were undertaken in the summer under the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act scheme. Yet, the bund has not been strengthened effectively. Officials should realise the situation and take precautionary measures,” Shivappa, a village resident, said.
On Friday, authorities also took up repairs of the Yeragera tank bund. “We inspected the tank bunds in Gadhar and Yeragera and repaired them. The chances of breach are less in both the villages. We are monitoring the situation and will take precautions,” Devid, Assistant Engineer, Rajolibanda Diversion Scheme (Gillesugur), told The Hindu .
Huge tanks in Gadhar and Yeragera villages in Raichur taluk which were empty for the last two years owing to drought, are full now.
Though farmers who depend on the two tanks for irrigation are happy, cracks developed in the tank bunds have them worried. Farmers fear that the tanks could breach, threatening the lives of the village residents.
Water level in the Gadhar village tank, which is spread across 30 acres, reached the maximum limit two days ago following incessant rain in the area.
Two gates with protective concrete walls on either side have been fixed in the bund for releasing water to agricultural fields for irrigation. People in Gadhar village, particularly those who had sown in fields downstream the tank, panicked on Thursday after they found a crack in the concrete wall.
As the news spread, officials of Irrigation Department visited the area in the afternoon and temporarily repaired the bund by filling the crack and putting some sand bags on it. The police also visited the village and advised the people to avoid the tank bund. However, since the rains continued to lash on Friday as well, the people of Gadhar and Upparal were worried as a breach could result in tank water gushing into both the villages causing huge damage.
“Dredging and strengthening the bund of the tank was undertaken in the last summer under Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act. Yet, the bund is not strengthened as expected. The officials should realise the situation and take precautionary measures,” Shivappa, a village resident said.
Same is the case with Yeragera tank that spread across around 40 acres irrigating over 300 acres. A bund developed a ‘bhonga’ (hole) two days ago flooding downstream areas and panicking the people. Officials, however, were attending it on Friday. “We have thoroughly inspected the tank bunds in Gadhar and Yeragera and repaired them. The chances of breach are less in both the cases. We are constantly monitoring and will take necessary precautions,” Devid, Assistant Engineer, Rajolibanda Diversion Scheme (Gillesugur), told The Hindu .
