Tiware Dam Breach in Ratnagiri: 19 Bodies Recovered, Crabs Caused Leakage in Dam, Says Minister

Ratnagiri, July 5: With the recovery of one more body from the debris on Friday, the death toll in the Tiware Dam mishap in Maharashtra's Ratnagiri jumped to 19. According to a tweet by ANI, NDRF Inspector Mahesh Kumar said, "One more body was recovered this morning, total 19 bodies have been recovered so far. We are doing continuous search operation." The tragic incident took place after a small dam burst near Bhendewadi hamlet following heavy rainfall on Tuesday night. The Tiwari Dam here had breached on July 3, creating a flood-like situation downstream.

As soon as the incident was reported, several agencies including National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) rushed to the spot to carry out rescue operations. Following the incident Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had ordered a high-level probe into the incident while state Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan assured that the homes of the surviving villagers would be rebuilt and the dam repaired on priority.

Here's the tweet:

Crabs Caused Leakage in the Dam

On Thursday, Maharashtra Water Conservation Minister Tanaji Sawant said that the breach in Tiware dam in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra was due to a large number of crabs that gathered around the dam, thereby causing leakage. "There were no leakages earlier. Leakage happened after a large number of crabs gathered around the dam. Locals brought the issue to our notice and our department acted on it. The incident is unfortunate," Sawant said.

CM Devendra Fadnavis Orders Probe

Fadnavis expressed his grief over the loss of lives in the incident and ordered an inquiry in the matter which will be helmed by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) under a secretary rank official.

Resident Deputy Collector Datta Bhadakawad told IANS that the Tivare Dam had started overflowing after heavy rain and breached around 9.30 pm on July three millions of litres of water gushed out and resulted in a flood-like situation in the area. Twelve houses near the dam have been washed away. Two National Disaster Response Force were deployed for relief operations. Bhendewadi area is also affected due to this incident which falls under Tiware Gram Panchayat.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 05, 2019 08:37 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).