Maharashtra: Portion of Beed dam razed amid opposition from locals

The minor irrigation department has razed a portion of a small dam in Maharashtras Beed district considering the safety of residents in the vicinity and to facilitate road work going on the stretch of a national highway nearby an official said on TuesdayThe reservoir is located at Aranwadi village in Dharur tehsil of Beed and residents of some adjoining villages had been protesting against its dismantling as they were of the view that such a move would led to wastage of the dams water which was used for irrigation and drinking purposesThey also alleged that a portion of the reservoir was dismantled on Sunday only to save a road which was of poor quality and suffered damages in just one monsoon rainsAranwadi resident Sunil Shingare who is also the chairman of Dharur Agriculture Produce Market Committee told PTI that locals had been demanding a dam in the area for last 15 years and the construction of this reservoir was completed recentlyIt got filled up completely in this month and would have solved the problem of water scarcity in Aranwadi Choramba Thete Gavhan Dhagewadi and Pahadi Pargaon villages located in the droughtprone area he saidHe said when they got to know that the authorities were planning to bring down a portion of the reservoir locals agitated till late night on July 24A 500metrelong road had been constructed in the dams catchment area but its quality was not up to the mark If the water level of the dam was not decreased the authorities feared the road would get washed away Hence to save the bad road our water has been wasted by razing a portion of the dam Shingare allegedBalaji Chavan a resident of neighbouring Choramba village said a national highway connecting Khamgaon and Pandharpur town passes through the placeThe road could not have faced the pressure of water hence the dam was dismantled People in the area are hardly able to get drinking water in the summer month of May and with this razing of a portion of the dam we will face scarcity in future he claimedWhen contacted the minor irrigation departments executive engineer Umesh Wankhede said the dam is currently filled up to 87 per cent of its total storage capacity following rains in the last fortnight and the decision to dismantle a portion of it was taken considering the safety of the reservoir and nearby placesThe Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation MSRDC also wrote us about the ongoing road work and the high water level could have damage it There is no gate system in the dam so we had to dismantle a portion of its wall By next monsoon we shall reconstruct it the official saidDharur tehsildar revenue officer Vandana Shedolkar said they have submitted a report over the issue to the district collectorThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever