Adding to the never-ending list of strange discoveries by our politicians, the latest comes from Maharashtra's water minister. Shiv Sena leader and state Water Conservation Minister Tanaji Sawant made a shocking claim over the cause of Tiware dam breach on Thursday, saying the leakage was caused due to a large number of crabs gathered around the dam.

The death toll in the Tiware dam breach incident in Maharashtra's coastal Ratnagiri district rose to 18 with the recovery of three more bodies on Thursday evening.

The dam, located in Chiplun tehsil, breached late Tuesday night following torrential rains in the coastal Konkan region, creating a flood-like situation in downstream villages. While many were washed away in the dam breach, police said at least five other persons were still missing.

In a video that has gone viral, Tanaji Sawant said, "No no, it's not like that. The dam became operational in 2004. It has been storing water for last 15 years but nothing happened earlier. Not that it was empty for some time and then water was stored later and there was leakage due to it."

"There is a huge problem of crabs around the dam and that resulted in the leakage. Whatever problems were brought to the notice by the villagers to our irrigation department were addressed immediately. But whatever happened was unfortunate," he added.

On being asked if the construction was weak, the water minister said that he came to know the shoddy construction work from the farmers and villagers of the area.

Incidentally, the Shiv Sena leader's party colleague and local MLA Sadanand Chavan happens to be the contractor of the dam.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis expressed his grief over the loss of lives in the incident and ordered an inquiry in the matter which will be helmed by a special investigation team under a secretary rank official.

Devendra Fadnavis has also asked Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Girish Mahajan to visit Ratnagiri and provide relief to affected families.

(With inputs from agencies)