Rains have washed out a major portion of an earthen check dam at Garu Dohar in Garur West range of the tiger reserve Palamau.

Sources said more than 35 feet of this earthen check dam have been washed away resulting in the loss of water meant for wildlife, birds and for a nearby grassland there.

The water body was designed to coexist with the grassland, so that herbivores can drink from it after feeding.

Sources said the Garu and Bareysarn ranges in the Palamau tiger reserve are ‘resorts’ for wildlife during summer due to the greater retention of the surface water here.

The Telegraph Online phoned field director and chief conservator of forest Palamau tiger reserve YK Das to know what this breach of the earthen check dam was all about to which Das said, “I am in a meeting.”

Deputy director south of Palamau tiger reserve Mukesh Kumar said he will seriously look into this matter and seek a report from the range officer.

“Plugging has to be done on a priority,” he said.

Garu forest range officer S Kumar was also approached.

“There is a huge break in this old earthen check dam. All efforts are on to plug it,” he said.

He said rains have been quite heavy there in the past weeks and this has resulted in this damage of the check dam, which he said was a “pretty old one”.

The ranger admitted that the damage occurred a few days ago.

DS Srivastava secretary of the Nature Conservation Society and a crusader of Palamau tiger reserve said, “Breakage in an earthen check dam is no unusual thing. It can happen,” adding that the broken parts should be plugged without further delay.

“Every drop of rain matters to the Palamau tiger reserve as it reels under water crisis of different magnitudes every summer and this wastage of surface water is a huge loss,” said Srivastava.

“Loss of natural water can be replenished with only natural water,” he said.

Sources said about three or four years ago, a massive breach had occurred in the Tino check dam in the Palamau tiger reserve which was plugged with a mix of sand, water and cement bags.

Bags of the mixture solidify to become impregnable concrete and that helps retain and detain the gush of water, which goes beyond the retention capacity of an earthen or concrete check dam due to heavy rainfall.