A dam is a barrier
that stops or restricts the flow of water or underground streams. Reservoirs
created by dams contain flood waters and store water for usage for humans for irrigation,
consumption, industrial use,
aquaculture, and navigability.
a dam (illustrative
photo from seattle.com)
A destructive flash
flood caused when a dam under construction unexpectedly burst open sent people
in its wake running for their lives in the Laos province of Xieng Khouang. Xaisomboun is a mountainous province located in Central
Laos, between Vientiane Province and Xiangkhouang Province. Video of the Sept.
11 disaster now circulating in the net shows
the raging waters growing more widespread as workers run for higher ground
while some unsuccessfully attempt to drive vehicles out of harm's way. After several people manage to escape on
foot, two people are seen running towards their trucks so they can drive away.
In the
early years of the Second World War, aeronautical engineer Barnes Wallis is
struggling to develop a means of attacking Germany's dams in the hope of
crippling German heavy industry. Working for the Ministry of Aircraft
Production, as well as doing his own job at Vickers, he works feverishly to
make practical his theory of a bouncing bomb which would skip over the water to
avoid protective torpedo nets. When it came into contact with the dam, it would
sink before exploding, making it much more destructive. Wallis calculates that
the aircraft will have to fly extremely low (150 feet (46 m)) to enable the
bombs to skip over the water correctly, but when he takes his conclusions to
the Ministry, he is told that lack of production capacity means they cannot go
ahead with his proposals. Angry and frustrated, Wallis secures an interview
with Sir Arthur "Bomber" Harris, the head of RAF Bomber Command, who
at first is reluctant to take the idea seriously. Eventually, however, he is
convinced and takes the idea to the Prime Minister, who authorises the project.
…. ..
..The Dam Busters (1955) is a British Second
World War war film starring Michael Redgrave and Richard Todd. The film was based on the books The Dam
Busters (1951) by Paul Brickhill and Enemy Coast Ahead (1946) by Guy Gibson. A remake of this hit movie has been in
development since 2008, but is yet to be
produced as of 2017.
Heard of ‘Kahalgaon’,
a city in Bhagalpur district in the state of Bihar. It is located close to the Vikramashila, that
was once a famous centre of Buddhist learning across the world, along with
Nalanda during the Pala dynasty. This place
is in news for wrong reasons !!
On
occasion of his 67th birthday, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the
Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada river.
The ‘engineering miracle’ is expected to provide power, drinking water,
and irrigation to 9,000 villages in three states - Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and
Maharashtra. The project which has been
the subject of much controversy for decades now is one of the largest dams in
the world. Before making any comments ~ it is a project inaugurated by
Jawaharlal Nehru in 1961. The prime minister
also struck the right chords by claiming that several quarters, including the
World Bank, had stood against the project but yet the government went ahead to
complete it. Modi also said that the temples of the state came forward with
funds to ensure that the world's second largest concrete dam saw the daylight. Sri Narendra Modiji presented a picture perfect*.
Fast
forward to September 19, a portion of a dam under the ambitious Gateshwar Panth
Canal Project in Kahalgaon near Bhagalpur in Bihar collapsed on the eve of its
inauguration by the state's chief minister, Nitish Kumar. The dam built at an
estimated cost of Rs 389.31 crore is part of the ambitious Gateshwar Panth
Canal Project which was planned to improve the poor land irrigation system in
the region.
Several
low-lying areas were flooded as water from the collapsed dam rushed into
residential areas in Kahalgaon. The dam broke due to release of water in full
capacity. The incident has not caused any damage to the newly constructed part
of the project," State’s Minister of Water Resources, Lallan Singh said. CM
Nitish Kumar, who was supposed to inaugurate the project today, had to cancel
his visit.
The
wall of the dam broke up after being forcefully hit by the Ganga river waters
when the pump was switched on for a trial run on Tuesday at Bateshwarsthan in
Bhagalpur district. The water gushed into Kahalgaon and inundated areas in NTPC
township as well some civil areas including the residence of the Kahalgaon
civil judge and the sub-judge. Former
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav was quick to blame rampant corruption under CM Nitish Kumar for
the fiasco.
The
canal is a joint project of Bihar and Jharkhand, under which 18,620 hectares of
land in Bhagalpur would get irrigation facility while 4038 hectares of areas in
Godda district of Jharkhand would be irrigated, a government brochure on the
project said. The Rs 389.31 crore project has a total irrigation capacity of
27603 hectares out of which 22816 is in Bihar and 4887 hectares in Jharkhand. The
Planning Commission had originally approved the project in 1977 at an estimated
cost of Rs 13.88 crore.
Sad state
of affairs indeed !
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
20th
Sept. 2017.
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