Thousands of villagers living near one of Indias largest dams prepared to evacuate on Friday after it started overflowing following monsoon rains, reports Alertnet.
South Asias worst flooding in 15 years has spread to western and northern India, and storms drenched the catchment of the giant Narmada dam, triggering a wall of water that threatens to envelop villages downstream.
Authorities began diverting water into canals from the 33,5 metre high dam in Gujarat state in Westernmost India. Environmentalists have opposed the dam, saying it is unsafe and will displace a million people once the project is finished.
– If the water level in the Narmada river rises by another few feet, dozens of villages will be under water. So, it is a very serious situation, said district chief Rajiv Topno.
Officials said water from the overflowing dam in Gujarat could submerge the homes of about 20.000 people living in 10 villages around the dam site and an evacuation plan was ready to move them at short notice to relief camps.
The Narmada Valley project is Indias biggest dam schemes. About 3.200 small, medium-sized and large dams are to be built on the 1.300 km long river and its tributaries to generate electricity and provide water to millions of people.
Gujarats government recently raised the height of the dam, despite opposition by environment groups led by Booker Prize winning author Arundhati Roy, to provide drinking and irrigation water to large, arid parts of the state.
Kilde: www.alertnet.org
