Maharashtra minister Tanaji Sawant has attributed the breach in Tiware dam in Ratnagiri district, which claimed the lives of 18 people, to the weakening of wall by crabs.
Calling the dam breach incident a "natural calamity", the newly-appointed Water Conservation Minister also said whatever is destined to happen, will happen.
Talking to reporters, Sawant on Thursday, 4 July, said officials and locals had informed him that a large number of crabs have weakened the wall of the dam.
“The wall was weakened by a large number crabs and after it was pointed out to the government officials, some remedial measures were taken up.”Tanaji Sawant
"The SIT appointed by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will come up with its findings soon and we will come to know what exactly went wrong," he said.
The dam, located in Chiplun tehsil, breached late Tuesday night, 2 July, following torrential rains in the coastal Konkan region.
The minister also hinted that the incident could also be a fallout of torrential rains in the dam's catchment area.
"In just eight hours, 192 mm rainfall was recorded in the catchment area of the dam. As per my information, the water level of the dam increased by eight metres in eight hours. The villagers wonder whether it was due to a cloudburst," he said.
But it will eventually be discussed in the committee, the minister added.
“It was a tragedy, but I think you cannot change your fate. Whatever is going to happen, will happen. It was a kind of natural calamity.”Tanaji Sawant
When asked about whether the repair works of the dam was shoddy, he said, "We realised it only when water started accumulating in the dam."
‘Arrest The Crabs’
A Nationalist Congress Party leader on Friday, 5 July, handed over a few crabs to the police after Tanaji Sawant’s claim that crabs were responsible for the breach.
NCP workers led by party general secretary Jitendra Awhad walked into the Naupada police station with crabs in hand, and urged the cops to `arrest’ them.
Speaking to reporters, Awhad said the BJP-led state government was shameless, and Sawant was trying to protect the contractor who was responsible for the tragedy.
"23 people were washed away, some are still missing, but the minister claimsthat crabs had weakened the dam," he said.
In Kolhapur, the NCP's youth wing presented a memorandum to Shahupuri police station, demanding registration of a 'case' against crabs.
"If the minister think crabs caused the breach, then a case should be registered against the crabs under section 302 of IPC for murder," NCP state youth wing chief Mehboob Sheikh said.
Last year, Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan had stirred up a controversy after he attributed a major breach in the right wall of the Mutha canal in Pune, which had inundated parts of the city, to rats, other rodents and crabs.
"The canal wall caved in as rats, rodents and crabs had been gnawing away at it, burrowing holes in the walls foundation," he had said.
(Edited for clarity. With inputs from two PTI copies.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)