A team from the central designing office of the state irrigation department reached Balurghat on Tuesday to check out the damaged portion of the dam on the Atrayee river.
On Sunday night, a portion of the dam, including a staircase, the sluice gate, and some iron planks above the gate, collapsed near ward 13 of the town. A portion of the embankment was also breached, much to the concern of people who stay near the riverbank.
“The main portion of the dam has not suffered any damage. We suspect the incident happened as the water started passing through the right side of the dam. There was no fault in the design of the dam. Even then, we visited the site today and will make a new drawing for the repairs,” said Pinaki Chatterjee, the deputy director of the central design office.
In January last year, chief minister Mamata Banerjee inaugurated the dam that was built by the department at a cost of ₹32 crore. It was built to maintain adequate water levels in the river that flows into Bangladesh.
“The Atrayee river enters South Dinajpur district from Bangladesh and again flows into the neighbouring country. Earlier, a dam was built at Mohanpur in the Dinajpur district of Bangladesh (from where the river enters India) to regulate the flow of water. In due course, the state government came up with the dam on the river so that a proper water level is maintained before the river flows back to Bangladesh,” said a source.
As portions of the dam collapsed on Sunday night within a year after the structure was commissioned, Opposition parties, especially the BJP, raised questions about the quality of work.
Sukanta Majumdar, the Balurghat MP who is also a Union minister of state, alleged that the dam had been built without consulting experts and low-quality materials were used in the project.
Officials of the state irrigation department rejected the charge.
“The team from the central designing office will come up with a design to repair the damaged section. We will invite tenders and want to start the work in March or April so that it ends before the monsoon. The work was carried out according to the schedule and there had been no discrepancy,” said a senior engineer of the department.
The residents, however, are still worried. “The river is continuously eroding land on its bank. Sandbags were used to check it, but there has been no change in the situation. We fear the river can flood the banks if no steps are taken to curb erosion,” said a resident.