New Delhi: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday spoke about the damage to the Karam river dam situated in the Dhar district and said that the situation is under control. He said that a bypass has been created for the discharge of water adding that there is no reason to be alarmed, reported ANI.


A breach in the wall of an under-construction dam on the Karam river set off alarm bells, teams of the Army and the National Disaster Response Force, NDRF had reached the spot on Saturday. The Indian Air Force, IAF, also put two helicopters on standby to deal with any emergency situation. 


The government on Saturday said that water is being safely drained out from the reservoir to reduce pressure on its wall, PTI reported. 


Weighing on it the Rajasthan CM on Sunday said, "Our priority is the safety of the public. Three of our ministers are present on the site. There is no reason to be alarmed. But we won't have a sense of relief until all the water is discharged", ANI reported. 






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At around 1 pm on Thursday, the leakage of water from the dam was first reported. According to PTI, officials said that the reservoir of the dam was filling up with water for the first time this monsoon as it was under construction.


As a precautionary measure, people from 12 villages in Dhar district and six villages in Khargone district were shifted to safer places, they added that these settlements were downstream of the dam.


State Water Resources Minister Tulsi Silawat issued a statement on Saturday, saying that an army team has reached Dhar to deal with an emergency and the NDRF has also got down to work. 


The dam is coming up at a cost of Rs 304 crore, of which Rs 174 crore have been spent so far, official sources said. Two IAF helicopters have been placed on standby, Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) Home Dr Rajesh Rajora said in a statement. The 590-meter-long and 52-meter-high dam, a medium-level irrigation project, has 15 million cubic meter (MCM) water in its reservoir, he added.


(With agency inputs)