JAIPUR: With the dam being destroyed in Jhunjhunu , people’s hope of getting water from newly constructed Kumbharam Arya Lift Project in hot days was dashed.Entire Jhunjhunu is defined as a dark zone due to depleting ground water. Kumbharam Arya Lift Project had emerged as a lifeline for people of the district. “The project was planned to provide water to two state assemblies— Khetri and Jhunjhunu. The damage to dam has come as a major loss to these people. Entire Jhunjhunu is categorised as a dark zone. The ground water level has gone down significantly. For digging tubewells, farmers have to take permission from the government. The project was a major hope,” said Santosh Ahlawat, member of parliament from Jhunjhunu.From November last year, PHED was collecting water in the dam. They were prepared to deal with scarcity of water in summers. The dam was filled to capacity with 4,400 million litres of water. “The outlet of the dam burst damaging the walls of the dam. Within minutes, the entire project was ruined,” she said, adding that the guilty will be punished.Now, PHED officials will have to empty the dam completely before starting work for repairing it. “It was a Rs 588-crore project. Revenue has been lost and water has also gone waste. Now, infrastructure will have to be developed again. After a long wait, a system of supplying drinking water was developed but that has also been destroyed,” she said.The damage by excess water could have been severe, if it hadn’t been diverted to agriculture fields.Till late in the evening, rescue teams of state disaster response force (SDRF) teams were seen taking people stranded in their houses to safer places. But, the incident has left them scared. “Our teams have rescued 16 persons who were stranded in the affected area,” said Hemant Gera, principal secretary, disaster management & relief department.He said that one national disaster response team (NDRF), which was conducting demonstration in Sriganganagar , was diverted to Jhnunjhunu. Besides, one SDRF team was sent from Jaipur.

Stay updated with all the Latest Ajmer headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.