Cracks manifest in Bhatghar Dam

Panic over leaks, flood at powerhouse; irrigation dept, guardian min reject ‘rumours’

Bhatghar Dam on Yelvandi River near Bhor, some 60 km from Pune city, is one of the oldest dams in Maharashtra and the largest in the district. The gravity dam (designed to hold back water by using the weight of its own masonry) was constructed by the British government in 1927 — and while several other dams around have shown signs of leakages within a couple of decades of being built, authorities insisted that this stone-carved dam has stayed flawless despite being 92 years of age.

However, this year’s relentless rain has exposed cracks in both the irrigation department’s claims of this reservoir’s safety, and the structure itself.

Thanks to negligence in pre-monsoon repair work, a major leakage has appeared on the spillway of the dam and lakhs of litres of water are seeping out. In the worst case scenario, over 180 villages — Bhor to Purandar and Baramati — are likely to face havoc.


For a week at least, local residents have been trying to raise the issue with the authorities, who are sending them back, claiming fears to be just rumours.

Ironically, in a move contradicting these assurances, the authorities on Monday closed the powerhouse plant attached to the dam that is meant to generate hydraulic electricity. Thanks to the breach, water has submerged two floors of the structure, which generates 16 megawatts of electricity daily.

Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Sangram Thopte from Bhor, who has been part of the citizenry raising this issue, told Mirror, “It is not a question of a few days — we have been observing such leakages going on for the last two years. Last week, we visited the site and informed the water resources minister, district collector and chief engineer of the department about damages to the dam wall. But, the authorities are hardly paying any attention to our pleas. There is an urgent need for remedial measures. Why wait for tragedies like what happened at Tiware Dam in Ratnagiri or Panshet Dam in Pune city. Bhatghar Dam is a British-era structure, and because of its age, it requires regular structural audits.”

He further informed, “The seepage is major at the dam gate near the mark between 696.00 to 753.23 metres. We have submitted a letter again to the water resources department as damage control work here needs to be done on a priority basis. But now, the officers are helpless, as this probably cannot be done before the summer due to rains bringing water in the dam. For now, our priority is to resume power supply.”

Another eyewitness villager from Malwadi shared on condition of anonymity, “Water is constantly leaking from the dam. We have raised concerns with irrigation officials, but they are just downplaying the seriousness of the issue. We are being forced to live under this shadow of fear.”

Reiterating the stand taken with village residents, Raj Dhopadkar, executive engineer of the water resources department assigned to Bhatghar Dam, said, “There is no damage to the body of the dam as claimed by people. The leakage is because the penstock pipe’s ventilation valve, which is being installed to supply water towards the hydro-electric plant, is damaged.”

Dhopadkar also accepted that repairs are needed at the fault to avoid further complications. “We are trying to reduce the seepage by closing the electricity plant. Within a few days, the leakage will dry up,” he asserted.

Elaborating further, he claimed, “The pipe may have damaged due to the earthquake here in 1972. We will be able to repair this fault only after the water level is nil, next summer. We need to break the wall of the dam to fix this problem.”

Questioned about the issue, district guardian minister Chandrakant Patil also said, “There is absolutely no threat to Bhatghar Dam. There are just rumours flying that there is major leak. The officers are trying their best to resolve whatever issue is there. We have constituted a dam safety commission of experts to look into things. People need not be worried.”

Construction work on Bhatghar Dam had originally started in 1885. With the capacity to store 23.75 thousand million cubic feet (TMC) of water, it supplies water to Bhor, Purandar, and Baramati talukas of Pune district, as also eastern talukas of Satara and Solapur districts, which are prone to drought.