A few days after one of the weirs of the Tungabhadra Dam was damaged, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and Irrigation Minister DK Shivakumar assured that a high-level technical team would fix the problem.
After visiting the damaged dam, he told reporters, “There are good engineers in Tungabhadra Neeravari Nigama. Contractors Krishnaiah, Narayana and Hindustan Company are already working on it.”
“In view of the broken mesh of Gate 19, we have opened all the gates of the dam to reduce the load on the dam. Currently, 98,000 cubic feet of water is being released, of which 35,000 cubic feet is from Gate 19. Farmers in Tungabhadra basin have nothing to worry about,” he added.
The deputy prime minister explained that 60 TMC of water would have to be released from the dam to install the ridge and said, “We will ensure that the farmers of the region can at least reap some harvest.”
The capacity of the dam is 150 TMC and its current inflow is 28,000 cubic feet per second.
“There are three main canals and 115 TMC of water is required for crop production. We have already released 25 TMC of water to the neighbouring state and need to release 90 TMC more. This is an important reservoir for farmers in Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh,” he said.
“The dam supplies water to 1.2 million hectares in Koppala, Raichur and Bellary districts of the state. All three states will resolve this issue together, there is no need to worry,” he added.
Due to the renovation work, the almost 70-year-old reservoir is not accessible to anyone except technicians and officials.
BAGINA EVENT POSTPONED
Although a Bagina, a ritual to pray to Goddess Cauvery, was scheduled to be performed on August 13 at the full reservoir, the event was postponed due to damage to the crest of a dam.
Shivakumar has not yet revealed how long it will take to repair the damage.
Meanwhile, he said, “After this dam is repaired, other dams in the state will also be examined. While other dams have rope and chain mechanisms, this is the only dam with chain mechanism. Our priority is to fix this problem.”
