Surendra Mehta/HP
Yamunanagar, May 24
Hathini Kund barrage, which divides water in 5 states of the country, is not safe. The barrage is beginning to be threatened. If no concrete steps are taken soon, then in the coming time there can be a huge devastation. Hathini Kund Barrage was built just 23 years ago while the British built Tajewala Headworks in 1878, which was designed for 100 years. Tajewala Headworks remained safe till 1999. During this severe floods in 1978, 1998 and 2010 caused heavy damage to Tajewala. In 2010, the remaining structure of Tajewala was also washed away.
The Hathni Kund barrage, situated on the Haryana, Himachal, Uttarakhand border in Yamunanagar, was constructed on July 9, 1999 by the then Chief Minister Chaudhary Bansilal. This barrage record was made in 3 years. The river bed of this barrage is going down due to continuous floods after 1999. When this barrage was constructed in 1999, its river bed was at 329 meters. Whereas at this time it has gone down 14 meters. The container wall of the barrage is at 310 meters, just 4 meters below. Due to this, the officials of the Irrigation Department are constantly taking measures to save this barrage.
The barrage was constructed on the basis of a design by the Central Water Commission. Therefore, the officials of the department had gone to the Central Water Commission about one and a half years ago to find a solution to this problem. The Central Water Commission sent the matter to the Central Water and Power Research Station (CWPRS), Pune for study. After the report came from Pune, a meeting of senior officers of the Irrigation Department has been held, in which the Chief Engineer and Advisor and other senior officers of the department were present. It was decided in the meeting to build a submersible ware 550 meters below the barrage. It is being designed by the Central Water Commission. As soon as this design is ready, after that the Irrigation Department will start work on it.
Irrigation Department’s Superintendent Engineer RS Mittal says that the report of the Central Water Commission will be received in the next two months. After that the work will start before the next season. Regarding the reasons for the river bed of the barrage coming down so fast, RS Mittal says that when water comes in Yamuna, its speed is very high. Big stones flow in it. He damages the river bed. In 2010 and 2019, due to heavy floods, large blocks set up to protect the barrage were washed away, due to which the barrage has been damaged.
Illegal mining is the main reason
By the way, there is a ban on mining around Hathini Kund barrage. Mining cannot be done 3 km below 3 km above the barrage. But in the last few years mining mafia has done heavy mining around the barrage. Many cases were also registered in this regard, but concrete action was not taken, due to which the game of mining mafia continued for years.
What does the Minister of Forest and Environment say?
Forest, Environment and Education Minister Cover Pal Gurjar says that the Haryana government is working seriously for the protection of Hathni Kund barrage. For this, the design has to be prepared from the Central Water Commission. As soon as this design comes to us, the construction of a submersible ware 550 meters below the barrage will start. He said that the barrage distributes water to five big states of the country, the government is very serious about it.
