Water channel breaches near Sonepat, crops submerged across two villages

Sonepat, October 7

An 80-ft-wide breach in the career line channel (CLC) near Barwasni village of the district on Friday submerged crops spread over 150 acres in Barwasni and Kilhorad villages and also affected the water supply to Delhi. The Irrigation Department officials suspected the breach to be the handiwork of some miscreants.

A team of officials of the Irrigation Department led by XEN Gulshan Kumar reached the spot and began the process of plugging the breach. Notably, around 700 cusec water is being supplied to Delhi through it.

As per the available information, the breach was detected by villagers at around 11.30 pm on Friday and soon the district administration was informed about it. The water submerged the crops in around 150 acres, gaushala and the water overflowed on the main road. This also led to a traffic jam. The police have diverted the traffic.

SDM Amit Kumar along with DRO Hariom Atri reached the spot Besides, Virender Singh, Chief Engineer, Irrigation Department, along with his team also visited the site.

A breach of around 200 ft in the CLC occurred on June 14 and now again the breach occurred at the same spot after four months, which has raised tensions of the officials of the Irrigation Department.

Gulshan Kumar said the breach was only 20-ft wide at the start but due to the pressure of the water, the breach widened up to 80-ft.

The water has been stopped from the Khoobru head and the water is being diverted through the Western Yamuna canal (Delhi Branch) for smooth supply to Delhi, the XEn added.

However, the actual reasons were not known behind the breach but it seemed that some miscreants were behind it as the banks of the CLC were strong, he said.

Prima facie it seemed that there may be some notorious persons behind the breach, he said. The canal guard visited the same spot at around 10.30 pm and there was no seepage in the banks of the CLC at that time and after an hour a big breach occurred, the XEN added. If there was any seepage in the banks of the canal, it usually appeared around 5-6 hours before the breach occurred, he said.

A written complaint has been filed to the Sadar police to inquire into the matter in detail so that the actual reason behind the breach is known, the XEN said.

Machineries and manpower are on the job to plug the breach and the work would be completed by Sunday evening, the XEN said.