Maharashtra: Portion of Beed dam razed amid opposition from locals

AURANGABAD: The minor irrigation department has razed a portion of a small dam in Maharashtra's 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 Tuesday.
The 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 dam's water, which was used for irrigation and drinking purposes.
They 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 rains.
Aranwadi resident Sunil Shingare, who is also the chairman of Dharur Agriculture Produce Market Committee, told that locals had been demanding a dam in the area for last 15 years and the construction of this reservoir was completed recently.
"It 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 drought-prone area," he said.
He 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 24.
"A 500-metre-long road had been constructed in the dam's 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 alleged.
Balaji Chavan, a resident of neighbouring Choramba village, said a national highway connecting Khamgaon and Pandharpur town passes through the place.
"The 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 claimed.
When contacted, the minor irrigation department's 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 places.
"The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) also wrote us about the ongoing road work and the high water level could have damaged 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 said.
Dharur tehsildar (revenue officer) Vandana Shedolkar said they have submitted a report over the issue to the district collector.