The Bengal irrigation department has suspended six engineers and showcaused a senior engineer following the collapse of a dam on the Atrayee river in Balurghat.
The department also filed a complaint at the Balurghat police station against the firm that had built the dam.
In November 2021, the government began the construction of the dam to control the flow of its water to Bangladesh. The river is an important source of water for farmers and hundreds of fishermen depend on the Atrayee. The water is drawn from the river and supplied to Balurghat after filtration and treatment.
The project that entailed an expenditure of ₹32 crore was completed in January 2024. The dam, measuring 222m in length, 20m in width and 2m in height, was built at Chakbhrigu in Balurghat.
“A portion of the dam, including its stairs, collapsed in February this year when there wasn’t much water in the river. On May 19, another portion of the dam collapsed and a stretch of the adjoining embankment was breached,” said a source.
This led to questions over the quality of the work.
Balurghat BJP MP Sukanta Majumdar visited the site and accused the state government of compromising the quality of work.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee had referred to the dam’s damage at the administrative review meeting in Siliguri on Wednesday. Following her instruction, the irrigation department took up the repairs on war footing.
Sources said the department was forced to act against the engineers who were posted in South Dinajpur and associated with the dam after Mamata had expressed her displeasure in closed quarters.
“The executive engineer who was in charge during the construction of the dam and another engineer of the same post who was posted when portions of it collapsed in February have been suspended, along with two sub-assistant engineers and two junior engineers,” said a source.
“The state vigilance commission initiated a probe. A chief engineer under whose jurisdiction the dam is located has been served a showcause notice,” the source added.
Jayanta Bhowmik, the executive engineer of the department in South Dinajpur, filed a police complaint against the construction firm.
Chinmay Mittal, the superintendent of police, South Dinajpur, said: “A case has been registered. We are probing the case.”