Dam bursts in Himachal Pradesh during trial - Shimla Now

A newly-built dam with capacity of
12,000 cubic metre near here collapsed today
during its first trial, with authorities ordering a
probe into the shocking incident.
The newly built reservoir of?4.8 MW Aleo
Electric Project-2 at Pirni burst during its first
trial this morning but there was no causality as
the dam collapsed from the river side. The
water?flowed into the river Beas and no
labourers were on the site as it was a Sunday.
Manali SDM Vinay Dhiman said that there was no
intimation from the promoters of the power
project regarding the testing of the reservoir.
He said that a departmental enquiry would be
conducted to ascertain the cause of collapse of
the dam. Company officials were unavailable for
comment.
The incident sparked panic among locals,
especially in Pirni-- the "adopted" village of
former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Locals claimed that had the water flown towards
the Aleo Bridge, localities downstream would
have been washed away, including the nearby
labour camp, resulting in huge casualties.
The reservoir with 12,000 cubic meter capacity
was filled for the first time since its construction
and was being tested since yesterday.