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| Baghliar begins showing colours-1 | | Doda region on brink of disaster, J&K govt in deep slumber | | Syed Junaid Hashmi
JAMMU, July 9: District Doda and parts of district Ramban are at the verge of facing a major natural catastrophe while Kishtwar district and Bhaderwah town are likely to get cut off from rest of the world in the very near future.
Courtesy: Jammu and Kashmir government's much hyped 450 megawatt Baghliar Hydroelectric Project (BHP) which has neither been able to address power woes of the state not brought in revenue on the expected lines. But the project has begun scaring people of Doda town due to rising level of water in Baghliar dam.
Pul Doda, which once used to be called the gateway of erstwhile district Doda is nowhere is existence. It has got submerged completely. People have begun writing about how secular this small inhabitation has remained even while becoming part of the Baghliar dam's gushing waters. Both the temple and the mosque constructed on the banks of river Chenab have got submerged in the dam water.
Jammu and Kashmir government has done its job by providing compensation to the displaced families and even rehabilitating them on the alternate highway connecting erstwhile district Doda with rest of the state. The highway is seven kilometer snake ladder constructed by Border Roads Organisation (BRO). Engineers term the road "worst made and practically dangerous for winter season".
A half-a-kilometer stretch of road between Batote-Kishtwar National Highway-1B has once collapsed under the weight of rising waters of the Chenab River and a month ago, 9 kilometer stretchy from Batote to Bagar was washed away by rains. Four persons also lost their life in this natural calamity. Experts warn of major natural calamity in the days ahead if the state government does not begin spade work.
Geologists in Jammu contacted by Early Times maintained that Batote-Kishtwar National Highway-1B has been constructed without getting the proposal properly vetted from the experts. They said that the entire belt is earthquake prone while adding that before starting the construction of road or even before beginning the dam work, geological experts should have been taken into confidence.
Experts added that geologists engaged in the construction of Baghliar project should have assessed probability of damage which the dam would cause to entire erstwhile District Doda. They talk at length about weak texture of rocks and water absorbing nature of mountains bordering river Chenab.
"Average annual flow in the river Chenab is 25.9 MAF (Million Acre Foot) which is nearly 1.6 times that of the flow of river Sutlej. You imagine what would happen, if this flow is curtailed. Rocks would begin showing the impact not today but two decades from today. Doda town and areas bordering highway are likely to face major disasters," said a geological expert while talking to Early Times.
He disputed the figures of water storage and added that actual extent of water storage is not being made public. "People of erstwhile district Doda have to remain prepared for the future which is not likely to bring any good news for them. Those living in areas close to what is now Baghliar Dam Water must begin moving to safer places," added the expert.
Another geological expert said "Government is befooling people of Doda. Water is entering inside the rocks since the movement at which it used to flow has been curtailed by the construction of Dam. It would weaken the rocks and if an earthquake of even 6.1 intensity strikes this belt, J&K would become another Japan," asserted the expert.
Experts caution that apart from what will happen two decades from today, there is an impending danger of low lying areas alongside river Chenab getting submerged and being cut off from the rest of the state if the water flow increases.
It needs to be mentioned here that after the commissioning of Baglihar Power Project in 2008, there was sudden rise in water level of Chenab in the area which forced the Pul Doda population to migrate to safer places. Of total 376 families, about 300 families migrated to Jammu, Bhaderwah and Doda towns after the government declared it as danger zone. |
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