Khuga repairing on, water dammed
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, August 06, 2012:
After the bank of the right main canal of Khuga Dam breached yes-terday, repairing/restoration of the breached portion has started from today on a war footing.
Moreover water distribution through the canal has also been stopped.
IFC Minister Ngamthang Haokip together with engineers of his department today made a spot assessment of the impact caused by the breached bank.
The team found that little damage was done to the surrounding paddy fields as water gushing out from the breached portion fell into low-lying excavations located beside the bank of the canal.
Apart from two fish rearing ponds and a couple of paddy enclosures, no major damage was done to the surrounding paddy fields.
Engineers who accompanied the Minister said that diversion of canal water by laying undergound pipe might have triggered the break down of the bank as the underground pipe was found leaking.
They said that distribution of water through the right main canal would be suspended for sometime.
Ngamthang Haokip stated that no proper alignment was done when the canal was constructed and water cannot flow smoothly when water was released from the dam.
As the water cannot flow smoothly, all its force were concentrated on the vulnerable portions of the bank leading to break down of the bank.
Taking serious note of the difficulties faced by farmers due to deficient rainfall, volume of water released through Khuga canals was increased substantially so that maximum number of paddy fields can be cultivated.
But the bank of the canal got breached when the volume of water was increased.
This was mainly due to flaws committed during construction of the canals, Ngamthang Haokip asserted.
Informing repairing and restoration work of the breached portion including construction of retaining wall has been started from today on war footing, the IFC Minister directed the concerned engineers to complete the same work within a week and also station relevant AE and SO's at the work site.
The Minister's entourage also included Singhat AC MLA Ginsuanhau Zou.