Major accidents in india due to negligence in dam safety / 1979 - 2014

DATE OF ACCIDENT
CIVILIAN CASUALTIES

LOCATION

DETAILS

Aug 11, 1979

Machchhu Dam/ River

Machchhu
Town Morbi
District Rajkot
Gujarat

The Machchu-2 dam, situated

on the Machhu river burst,
sending a wall of water
through the town of Morbi in
the Rajkot district of
Gujarat.[1] Estimates of the
number of people killed vary
greatly ranging from 1800 to
25000 people.
[source wikipedia]

Apr 7, 2005

Oct 1, 2006

Indiara Sagar Dam / River

Narmada
Village - Dharaji
District Dewas
Madhya Pradesh

Manikheda Dam, River Sindh,

District Datia
Madhya Pradesh

Official reports say 65

pilgrimes where swept away
by a 5 ft. high tide caused due
to sudden release of water
from the dam. Pilgrims had
gathered for annual Bhuta
Amavasya ritual. National
Hydel Development Corp.
who opened the dam gates
claim they knew nothing
about the congregation.
NHDC blamed local
administration for not
informing the tourists and
also blamed tourists for not
following safety instructions.
Other sources claim deaths
might have been as high as
150.

Official death toll 37

Pilgrims crossing the Sindh
River at Basai Ghat to offer
prayers at Mata Mandir,
Ratangarh were swept away
by waters released from
Manikheda Dam.

LABOUR CASUALTIES

December 12 1993

April 20 2005

River Siul, Chamera

hydroelectric project,

The entire length of the

second span of the bridge
collapsed into the river below,
resulting in the death of 16
labourers.

Uranium Corporation of India

Limited (UCIL) captive
barrage on Ghura river,
Town - Jadugoda
Jharkhand

Jagatram Tudu, lost his life

after UCIL sluice gate opened
suddenly without warning
whistle. Tudu was a former UCIL
employee, but on this fatal day
had gone to the river for a swim.

Two workers were buried

alive under the debris.

April 22 2005
Parbati hydroelectric project,
Himachal Pradesh

Three workers including on

engineer were buried alive in
the tunnel.

January 2005

June 28 2005

August 13 2008

Ghatghar Pump Storage

Thane, Maharashtra

River Netravathi at
Neerkatte,
Karnataka

The tunnel got blocked and

around 17 workers died

Six labourers died as floods

breached a dam built for a
power project. Local residents
alleged that despite the signs
of flooding, the crest gates
were not removed. Under
instructions, the labourers
began removing the crest
gates to prevent the collapse
of the embankment. Before
the last crest gate could be

removed, the swirling floods

swept away six labourers.

PUBLIC DISASTERS /
[Due to Low or No
maintenance status of
dams]

June 2005

Baglihar hydro project,

Jammu and Kashmir

Diversion tunnel No 1
collapsed when the waters in
Chenab River rose
following the torrential rains
and snow melting in upper
glaciers region.
The surrounding hills are
developing cracks triggering
several landslides and around
250 workers had a close shave
with imminent death when
they got trapped in the
workshop at the dam site.

June 25 2005

July 2006

River Teesta at Teesta Low

Dam III hydro project, Siliguri,
West Bengal

Collapse of Bailey bridge built

by NHPC near
Rambi. Seven persons dead.

UKAI Dam, Near Surat,

Gujarat

Flood cushion was ignored in

the beginning of monsoon. As
the rains grew wilder, water
was indiscriminately released.
Such sudden high releases of
water from dams were the
prime reason for most of the
flood damages in many Indian
basins. The flood in Surat
caused at least 120 deaths,

hundreds of others missing,

over 4,000 cattle dead and
more missing, and economic
losses estimated at US$49
billion.

September 24 2007

September 17 2007

November 10 2007

December 21 2007

Rengali dam, situated on the

Brahmani river in Orissa

Ponmudi dam in Kerala to

Panniyar power house

Sabari dam near Nagercoil,

Tamil Nadu

Kudaganar dam in Dindigul

district, Tamil Nadu

The Statesman reported that

multiple cracks were seen. On
the masonry non-flow
section, the gallery, the
irrigation sluice and piers and on the downstream side,
water was seeping through
the cracks.

One of the two penstock

pipes carrying water, burst,
and killing eight persons.
Nearly 15 houses were
damaged; around 150 acres of
nearby crops were washed
away in the ensuing flash
flood. Breaches happened in
2005 but no concrete steps
were taken to fix the issue.

Two shutters
collapsed following heavy
rains in the catchment area
jeopardizing the plans of
farmers in and around this
area for second season
farming.

First of the 15 shutters was

ripped off and washed away
owing to heavy pressure as
the storage level crossed 25
feet (full level 26 feet). The
mutilated shutter door was

seen 150 metres away from

the dam and three persons,
fishing near the shutters in
the river had a miraculous
escape.
The collapse of shutter at
Kudanagar dam along with
breaches in several tanks in
Nilakottai taluk led to a
situation where 500 acres of
cultivable land in the district
remained barren despite
good rainfall.

April 2008

Singda Dam, Imphal city

Manipur

A drastic recession of water

level causing water supply
failure in Imphal city area.
Irrigation and Flood Control
Department (IFCD) Additional
Chief Engineer Thongram
Indramani stated that the
recession was due to four
leaky valves that started
leaking since 10 years back
and due to heavy deposition
of silt at the reservoir bed.
Further information from
IFCD stated that the rubber
seal of the Imphal Barrage is
out of order and there is
leakage of water, three gates
of the Sekmai Barrage have
also gone out of order while it
has been 20 years since
maintenance work was done
at Khoupum Dam.

June 11 2008

March 2 2008

August 4 2008

August 6 2008

June 2013

Narmada main canal,

Mehsana district
Gujarat

Bokaro Steel Plant canal

Jharkhand

8 villages in Kadi tehsil of

Mehsana district were
flooded following a 30 metre
breach in the Narmada main
canal.

50 feet breach was reported

in Tenughat Bokaro Steel
Plant canal near Jhajhako
village.

Palemvagu dam in
Khammam district,
Andhra Pradesh

Developed a huge breach

forcing some 550 families in
several villages to be hastily
evacuated. The gushing
(Palemvagu, a minor tributary waters left some 2000 acres
of the Godavari)
of crop area sand cast.

Jaswant Sagar Dam

Luni river basin
Jodhpur, Rajasthan

Maneri Bhali I and II, River

Bhagirathi, Uttarakhand

Damaged partially after

heavy rains raised the water
level
Maneri Bhali-I, a project
upstream of Uttarkashi town,
was built in the 70s. In the
Uttarkashi earthquake of
1991, most houses in Maneri
village were washed off,
specifically those near the
dam. Houses in the village
had developed cracks during
dam construction due to
blasting by dynamite.
In 2013, Maneri Bhali I and II
were blamed for not opening
the gates on time and the lack
of a protection wall.

Ref: An elaborate Dam Safety mechanism, right there on paper - Himanshu Upadhyaya
Ref: Dam builders blind to geo-hydrological risks, C.T. Lakshmanan /
http://www.slideshare.net/ctlachu/24-dam-made-disaster
Ref: Indian dams lack social responsibility
by Himanshu Upadhyaya h_upadhyaya@hotmail.com
http://csr-asia.com/csr-asia-weekly-news-detail.php?id=4105
Ref: Press Release / Itanagar / River Basin Friends (NE) BJP on Merits of Mega Hydro
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/ne-pa/conversations/topics/153