Flood Sans River LAKHTAR

LAKHTARWalking in the rubble: Inside the pumphouse, we tried to make our way over a 3 to 4 feet thick sheet of rubble washed in by the flooding waters. One of our escorts, Jadhav insisted there was no government laxity. “It was nature’s fury”, he says.(By Ravleen Kaur (Reporter, Down to Earth)Photographs by Meeta Ahlawat)

LAKHTARTurned on its head: One of the wrecked pump columns lies upside down. The station was yet to be commissioned.(By Ravleen Kaur (Reporter, Down to Earth)Photographs by Meeta Ahlawat)

LAKHTARThe severed arm: The other pump column, repairing it and the breaches will cost a neat sum of Rs 50 crore.(By Ravleen Kaur (Reporter, Down to Earth)Photographs by Meeta Ahlawat)

LAKHTARA pump station that was washed away : At Lakhtar, downstream the swollen canal waters rolled back on the sloping gradient. The thirteen feet station oundary wall and two pump coloumns gave in to the pressure.(By Ravleen Kaur (Reporter, Down to Earth)Photographs by Meeta Ahlawat)

LAKHTARFutility of engineering: Water ripples through the remains of the erstwhile boundary wall. Lengthy assessments to arrive at an ideal holding capacity for the pump station rendered meaningless by the changing rainfall pattern.(By Ravleen Kaur (Reporter, Down to Earth)Photographs by Meeta Ahlawat)