Dam leakage: 500 Gkp families hit by floods

More than 500 families were affected by flood when water leaked from Domingarh dam, that controls water of rivers Rapti and Rohini, and entered their houses on Wednesday. The administration has claimed that situation is under control. The leakage started after regulator number 7 at Domingarh dam got damaged.

The main affected areas included Zafar Colony, Tiwaripur, Mohlalpur, Bale ka maidan and Ramlila maidan of Bardghat. After receiving an alert, the district administration shifted people to safe places. The administration has pressed NDRF into service. In some areas food packets were also distributed amongst flood victims. District magistrate Rajeev Rautela took a boat ride to take stock of the situation and spoke to affected people.

“Water discharged by Nepal along with heavy rain has caused rivers to flow above danger marks triggering flood. This happens every year as Nepal discharges water into rivers Rapti and Rohini. The adminstration does not take precautionary measures to deal with the situation and awakes only when it becomes grim,” said Mohd Ghaffar, resident of Zafar colony.

BJP MLA of the area, Vipin Singh blamed the administration for not repairing the dam. “The dam had started leaking due to negligence of local administration, which failed to repair it on time. I got the information at 5.10 am and reached at the spot.” The DM said, “We tried to stop water leakage with the help of bamboo structures and steel plates. Many houses are waterlogged and shelter is being provided to affected families.” In Maharajganj, dam over River Rohin is damaged at five places and flood water has entered 60 villages. NDRF and SSB teams are carrying out rescue operations.