1979 Machchhu dam failure

1979 flood disaster in Gujarat, India July 2020 Morbi Dam Failure 1979 Morbi disaster.jpg Failed earthen embankment of Machchhu-2 dam 1979 08 11 y Estimated 100 c 1979 1,800–25,000 (estimated) Morbi and villages of Rajkot district, Gujarat, India { "type": "FeatureCollection", "features": [ { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "title": "Machchhu II Dam (Breach Site)", "description": "Earth-fill dam collapsed on 11 August 1979 after extreme monsoon rainfall exceeded spillway capacity", "marker-symbol": "dam", "marker-color": "#c9302c", "marker-size": "large" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [70.8930, 22.7590] } }, { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "title": "Morbi City (Primary Impact Zone)", "description": "Industrial town 5–9 km downstream submerged under a 6–10 m (20–30 ft) wall of water within 20 minutes", "marker-symbol": "danger", "marker-color": "#d9534f", "marker-size": "large" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [70.8380, 22.8180] } }, { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "title": "Maliya Miyana (Downstream Inundation)", "description": "Downstream agricultural plains and low-lying town submerged as waters drained into the Little Rann of Kutch", "marker-symbol": "wetland", "marker-color": "#ec971f", "marker-size": "medium" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [70.7600, 22.9800] } } ] } { "type": "FeatureCollection", "features": [ { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "marker-symbol": "dam", "marker-size": "small", "title": "Machhu dam" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [70.865833, 22.763889] } }, { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "marker-symbol": "town", "marker-size": "small", "title": "Morbi" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [70.83, 22.82] } }, ] } The Machchhu dam failure or Morbi disaster is a dam-related flood disaster which occurred on 11 August, 1979. The Machchu-2 dam, situated on the Machchhu River, failed, sending a wall of water through the town of Morbi (now in the Morbi district) of Gujarat, India.Noorani A. G. 25 August 1979 The Inundation of Morvi Economic and Political Weekly 14 34 1454 4367866 Estimates of the number of people killed vary greatly, ranging from 1,800 to 25,000 people.Noorani A. G. 21 April 1984 Dissolving Commissions of Inquiry Economic and Political Weekly 19 16 667–668 4373178 World Bank. Environment Dept Environmental assessment sourcebook https://books.google.com/books?id=QtSvTSHVxeQC&pg=PA86 World Bank Publications 978-0-8213-1845-4 86 1991https://www.outlookindia.com/books/the-loudest-crash-of-79-news-281980 The Loudest Crash Of '79 Outlook India 27 August 2012 6 March 2013 S.B. Easwaran 14 September 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160914202703/http://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/the-loudest-crash-of-79/281980 live The Machchu II dam The first dam on the Machchhu river, named Machchhu I, was built in 1959 and had a catchment area of 730 km2 mi2 off. The Machchhu II dam, an earthfill dam, was constructed in 1972, downstream of Machchhu I, and had a catchment area of 1929 km2 mi2 on.Machchhu River http://guj-nwrws.gujarat.gov.in/showpage.aspx?contentid=1647&lang=English 28 December 2017 Narmada, Water Resources and Water Supply Department, Government of Gujarat 30 December 2017 https://web.archive.org/web/20171230060241/https://guj-nwrws.gujarat.gov.in/showpage.aspx?contentid=1647&lang=English live The dam was meant to serve as an irrigation scheme: considering the long history of drought in Saurashtra region, the primary consideration at the time of design was water supply, not flood control. It consisted of a masonry spillway of 206 m ft, with 18 sluice gates across the river section, and long earthen embankments on both sides. The spillway capacity provided for 5663 m3/s ft3/s off.http://profshivajirao.googlepages.com/polavaramdam-1 Polavaram Dam Failure Kills 45 Lakhs of People Rao, Professor T. Shivaji 9 January 2012 20 July 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20090720134754/http://profshivajirao.googlepages.com/polavaramdam-1 dead The embankments were 2345 m ft in length on the right and 1399 m ft in length on the right.Vijay Nagendra October 2008 Safari Magazine, Issue 173 https://www.scribd.com/document/17284621/Safari-173 live https://web.archive.org/web/20200828102601/https://www.scribd.com/document/17284621/Safari-173 28 August 2020 2020-08-03 Scribd 15-23 Gujarati The embankments had a top width of 6.1 m ft off, upstream and downstream slopes with a ratio of 1:3 (V:H) and 1:2 respectively, and a clay core extending through alluvium to bedrock. The upstream face consisted of 61 cm in in of small gravel and 61 cm in in of hand packed rip-rap. The dam stood 22.6 m ft above the river bed and its overflow section was 164.5 m ft long. The reservoir had a storage capacity of 101020 dam3 acre-feet 3 off.https://www.usbr.gov/ssle/damsafety/documents/RCEM-CaseHistories2015.pdf RCEM Case History Compilation 3 September 2021 29 September 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160929235144/http://www.usbr.gov/ssle/damsafety/documents/RCEM-CaseHistories2015.pdf live Failure The failure was caused by excessive rain and massive flooding, leading to the disintegration of the earthen walls of the four kilometre long dam. The actual observed flow following the intense rainfall reached 16307 m3/s cuft/s on, three times what the dam was designed for, resulting in its collapse. 762 m ft of the left and 365 m ft of the right embankment of the dam collapsed. Within 20 minutes, the floods, which were 12 to 30 ft m on high, inundated the low-lying areas of Morbi industrial town, located 5 km mi in below the dam. Around 3.30 pm, the tremendous swirling flow of water struck Morbi. The water level rose to 30 ft m within the next 15 minutes and some low lying areas of city were under 20 ft m of water for the next 6 hours. The Morbi dam failure was listed as the worst dam burst in the Guinness Book of Records October 1986 Guinness, El Libro de los Récords Guinness Book the Records Spanish Mexico Ediciones Maeva, S.A. 978-968-458-366-5 before the death toll of the 1975 Banqiao Dam failure was declassified in 2005.http://english.people.com.cn/200510/01/eng20051001_211892.html People's Daily Online -- After 30 years, secrets, lessons of China's worst dams burst accident surface 2018-04-26 3 January 2006 https://web.archive.org/web/20060103183714/http://english.people.com.cn/200510/01/eng20051001_211892.html live The collapse led to great economic loss as the flood damaged farmland, leading to a decrease in productivity of crops. No One Had A Tongue To Speak, by Tom Wooten and Utpal Sandesara, debunks the official claims that the dam failure was an act of God and points to structural and communication failures that led to and exacerbated the disaster.http://www.indianexpress.com/news/book-on-1979-morbi-dam-disaster-rubbishes-act-of-god-theory/979087/0 Book on 1979 Morbi dam disaster rubbishes 'Act of God' theory The Indian Express 25 July 2012 28 July 2012 17 June 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20130617040543/http://www.indianexpress.com/news/book-on-1979-morbi-dam-disaster-rubbishes-act-of-god-theory/979087/0 live It contains first-person accounts of many survivors. It narrates how people scrambled for rooftops, hilltops, and other safe grounds in order to save themselves. Over a hundred people took shelter in Vajepar Ram Mandir but later, the deluge submerged them along with the temple. Women were compelled to drop their babies into the furious surge in order to save themselves and people lost their loved ones in a flash.https://www.indiawaterportal.org/articles/machhu-dam-disaster-1979-gujarat-discussion-book-tom-wooten-and-utpal-sandesara Machhu dam disaster of 1979 in Gujarat – Discussion on a book by Tom Wooten and Utpal Sandesara live https://web.archive.org/web/20150325192334/http://www.indiawaterportal.org:80/articles/machhu-dam-disaster-1979-gujarat-discussion-book-tom-wooten-and-utpal-sandesara 25 March 2015 During reconstruction of the dam, the capacity of the spillway was increased by four times and fixed at about 21000 m3/s cuft/s on. Popular culture The Gujarati disaster film Machchhu tara vehta pani is based on the Machchhu dam failure.https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/gujarati/movies/news/machchhu-a-real-life-tragic-story-is-all-set-to-release/articleshow/65081425.cms Machchhu: A real life tragic story is all set to release - Times of India The Times of India 21 July 2018 en 2020-04-19 13 March 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210313071757/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/gujarati/movies/news/machchhu-a-real-life-tragic-story-is-all-set-to-release/articleshow/65081425.cms live See also 2022 Morbi bridge collapse References 22 45 50 N 70 51 57 E region:IN-GJ_type:waterbody_source:kolossus-dewiki title Category:Dam failures in Asia Category:1979 disasters in India Category:Dams in Gujarat Category:1970s in Gujarat Category:Morbi district Category:Floods in Gujarat Category:Man-made disasters in India