By Manoj Kumar Ojha
GUWAHATI :This is a horrifying story of an Agricultural Dam in Assam which became a death-valley claiming six lives in last three years five of them minors school going children.
Under the irrigation project of the state government the dam was set up at Namhollong to give relief at least sixty thousands farmers of 122 villages living in the vicinity including Namhollong village under Kailashpur Gaon Panchayat in Tinsukia district of upper Assam; the eastern most corner of the state.
The problem started three years ago when the dam was beautified and it started attracting people from across Assam. Many started arriving for fun and fair including picnicking and swimming.
In 2021 two minor students from Phillobari village of Tinsukia district who were good footballers- Samiran Moran and Alpjyoti Moran, drowned near the dam while swimming.
In 2022 another two students from Tongna of Tinsukia district drowned while swimming on the same incident place.
This year, yesterday, a student from Doomdooma Town Puskar Changmai, 16, drowned and died. His body was recovered by Deep Diving Crew of Tinsukia district.
Bilkul Dutta, a fisherman too drowned there yesterday afternoon while fishing.
“The water flows here at one side .Another side the water is blocked .It is 30-35 feet deep . The locals know this . But it is our folded hand request to the people of all over Assam that please don’t come to take a bath here. It is very much risky,” Vijay Sarma, a local resident told media.
“Few years back , when it was beautified the people named it , “Morom Land” ( Love Land ) but now it has turned to “Maran Land” ( Death Land ) . It’s got a bad name,” Sarma added .
The part of Namhollong Irrigation Dam falls under two police stations- Bordumsa and Phillobari under Kakopathar block in Doomdooma Revenue Circle .
It is 41 kilometers from Tinsukia and 541 kilometers from the capital Guwahati.
“Awareness programmes on this is necessary across the state. The cases of drowning occurs across the state during summer seasons when the temperature and water level both rise but if in every school awareness programmes are done , it may be minimised,” a senior officer in SDRF Team stationed in Tinsukia said.
“Even a single life is of much importance for us. If we can prepare a team in every area nearest to the” Drowning zone ” could be better. Community too can take a better initiative in this regard with the aid from the government.”
It may be mentioned that 144 major rivers and rivulets and water streams are here in the state except thousands of ponds , waterfalls and water bodies.
The people near the river banks say that government should take especial initiative to stop drowning casualties which happens due to flood also .
And yes , Namhollong is not one , there are many places in Assam which witness mysterious deaths- One is Jatinga . It is quite famous as a birds suicide point. The place makes headlines . The birds do this from 7 pm to 10 pm while in normal tend to go out during the day and return to their nest at night. Nearly 40 species of local & migratory birds are involved in this race of suicide. This strange phenomenon has led to many, deeming Jatinga as one of the creepiest places in the world.