Nagpur: Burrows created by rabbits and rats across the channel reportedly led to a breach of the distribution branch of Gosikhurd dam’s Ghodazari canal on the very first day water was released in it last week. The burrows left a section of the wall so vulnerable that it could not withstand the water pressure, flooding the fields near Owala village in Chandrapur district, sources said.Built in around 2010, the sub-branch remained unused as the Ghodazari main canal itself was not built over the years. In the meantime, it became an abode for rodents and even rabbits, a primary inspection of the dam site suggests, sources in VIDC said. Most of the area is covered with piped distribution network. “However, this was an earthen canal where normally overgrowth happens, and if left unused, small animals make it their home,” sources said.Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation (VIDC) executive engineer in charge of the Ghodazari project, Suhas More, also agreed with the rabbit-hole theory. He said a report indicating the possibility of holes made by these animals has been put up at the head office following the breach.When water was released last Monday at around 7am, farmers from Bramhapuri, Sindewahi and Nagbhid tehsils hoped it would bring an end to 15 years of wait. Now, repairs are being carried out on a war footing, and the canal is expected to be ready in a couple of days, sources said. Water would be released again, bringing relief to paddy farmers desperately waiting for rains, a source said.“Burrows were seen running through the dam’s embankment and bed. Perhaps the animals could easily enter through one end and come out from the other. This eventually made the walls porous, leaving holes in it. As the water was rushed through the channel, the rabbit or rat holes were left further agape, and the water flowed out in the fields,” a VIDC engineer who was part of the inspection team said.Once repairs are done and water is regularly released in the canal and branches, animals won’t be able to make it their habitat, a source said. “That was just a test run last week and VIDC was prepared for any such eventuality,” a source said.Building the Ghodazari canal had its own challenges. One of the major hurdles was the railway line that passed through it.
