The Hindu : National : Narmada disaster toll mounts to 60

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Wednesday, Apr 13, 2005

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National

Narmada disaster toll mounts to 60

By Our Staff Correspondent

BHOPAL, APRIL 12. The death toll in the Dharaji tragedy has been mounting each day and with the recovery of more bodies the number of pilgrims swept away and killed when water was released from the Indira Sagar dam last Thursday evening has gone up to 60.

Army divers were called in today from Mhow to augment the relief operations at Dharaji in Dewas district of Madhya Pradesh. Dharaji is a pilgrim centre, where thousands of devotees had congregated on April 7 to take a holy dip in the Narmada on the auspicious occasion of "Bhutadi Amavasya".

According to some villagers, the Narmada was flowing gently through the rocky river bed that evening and hundreds of devotees could navigate their way hopping from one protruding rock to another to reach the middle of the river to perform the sacred pooja. Soon it was pitch dark as it was a new moon night. Around the same time water was released by the Indira Sagar dam for generating power to meet the peak hour demand and the water level began rising gradually downstream at Dharaji.

Before the devotees could realize the lurking danger, the rocky path they had taken to reach the middle of the river had submerged and there was virtual chaos. When the water level rose further most of them were swept away. While some could swim and manage to save their lives, a large number of them met a watery grave at Dharaji that night. Some sharp edged and razor-like rocks in the river bed also played havoc and many bodies were badly mutilated.

An official spokesman today claimed that some announcements were made on loudspeakers to alert and caution the people regarding water to be released from the Indira Sagar dam on April 7. He also pointed out that it was a major mistake on the part of the local authorities who had failed to use force to prevent the devotees from entering the river.

When contacted, and official spokesman said that water was again released from the dam this evening for meeting a dual purpose -- to generate power and also to flush out bodies that could still be entangled in the rocky cavities and crevices. Search is on for at least fifty persons, who were still said to be missing.

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