Balangir MLA Calls for Probe into Chattamakhana Dam Damage

Balangir MLA Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo has urged Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi to carry out an independent technical enquiry into the alleged structural damage to the newly constructed Chattamakhana Dam in Balangir district following recent rains.

In a letter to the chief minister, who also holds the Water Resources portfolio, Singh Deo stated that the damage included washing away of the cut-off wall and failure of the downstream embankments. He raised serious concerns over the safety and structural adequacy of the project.

"That a public asset completed so recently should sustain damage to this nature is a matter of grave concern and points not to ordinary distress but to fundamental deficiencies in the design under which the dam was built," he stated in the letter.

Singh Deo pointed out that while the project was executed on an EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) basis, the sanctioned design underwent significant changes from the original tender design. He said the overall waterway was reduced from 256 metres to 206 metres, the number of gates brought down from 18 to 14, and the impervious floor length reduced from 80 metres to 50 metres, while the design discharge of 2,760 cubic metres per second remained unchanged.

He requested the chief minister to order an independent enquiry to examine whether the revised design complied with applicable engineering standards and if it was capable of safely handling the prescribed flood discharge.

"A transparent, independent and time-bound technical enquiry must be conducted and if any deficiencies are found, the structure must be repaired immediately at the contractor’s cost while ensuring the safety of the public," he said.

The MLA further emphasized that the dam, which was inaugurated less than a year ago, had become a symbol of hope for irrigation and flood control in the drought-prone Balangir region, making its structural failure all the more distressing for local farmers and residents who depend on it for their livelihoods.

Local villagers from nearby gram panchayats have reported visible cracks and seepage in the dam structure even before the monsoon peaked, with some claiming they had alerted junior engineers multiple times but received no substantive response. Their concerns were reportedly dismissed as routine monsoon wear, despite the dam’s recent completion.

Singh Deo also noted that the Chattamakhana Dam project, approved under the state’s Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (AIBP), had faced repeated delays due to land acquisition issues and funding constraints, raising questions about whether schedule pressure may have compromised quality checks during construction.

He urged the Chief Minister to involve independent experts from institutions such as IIT Roorkee, NIH Roorkee, or the Central Water Commission (CWC) to ensure credibility and technical rigor in the investigation, rejecting the idea of an internal departmental review as insufficient to restore public trust.

The Water Resources Department has not yet issued an official response to the MLA’s letter, though sources within the department confirmed that a preliminary site inspection was conducted by executive engineers two days after the heavy rainfall subsided.

Opposition parties in the state legislature have echoed Singh Deo’s call for accountability, with the Congress and BJD legislators demanding a discussion in the upcoming assembly session on dam safety protocols and contractor oversight in Odisha’s water infrastructure projects.

As monsoon waters recede, the focus has shifted from immediate relief to long-term resilience, with Singh Deo insisting that accountability must precede any repair work — lest the state repeat the same mistakes in the name of expediency.

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