BALLARI: The newly installed crest (spillway) gates of the Tungabhadra dam near Munirabad in the district, which is the lifeline for farmers of Kalyana Karnataka region in the state as well as Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, were inaugurated at a grand ceremony on Thursday. For the first time, the Chief Ministers of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, along with Union Water Resources Minister C R Paatil shared the stage.
The reservoir provides water to 12 lakh hectares of agricultural land across the three states. The new crest gates were inaugurated by Karnataka CM D K Shivakumar, Andhra CM N Chandrababu Naidu, Telangana CM Revanth Reddy and Union Minister CR Patil, each pressing the remote for one gate.
On the occasion of today’s historic event, the reservoir was decorated like a bride. The TB Dam was adorned with Tricolor lights, banana stems and flowers. The three CMs arrived at Jindal airport and from there landed at Munirabad in Koppal, then came directly to the Tungabhadra Reservoir and inaugurated the gates.
In view of the inauguration, special pujas were performed for gates 18, 19, 20, and 21. After priests performed pujas for all four gates, CM DK Shivakumar offered prayers to the TB Dam with folded hands. Notably, a photo of CM DK Shivakumar’s revered deity, Gangadhara Swamy, was placed at the TB Dam crest gate inauguration site. Before the gate inauguration, CM Shivakumar offered prayers to the photo of Gangadhara Ajjaiah Swamy. The photo of Gangadhara Swamy was also displayed on the stage at the Munirabad convention in Koppal.
DK Shivakumar, Chandrababu Naidu, and Revanth Reddy arrived in Chandrababu Naidu’s car. All three CMs went in a battery-operated vehicle to inaugurate the reservoir’s crest gates. Union Minister CR Patil also accompanied them.
The Tungabhadra Dam crest gates, which were installed in 1953, were replaced after 73 years as they had worn out. The new crest gates are 20 feet high, 60 feet wide and weigh 48.50 tons each. In August 2024, Gate No. 19 had washed away. Within seven days, the 19th gate was rebuilt, giving relief to farmers. After inspection by the Dam Safety team and the Central Water Commission, instructions were given to replace all 33 gates at a cost of Rs 51 crore.
Meanwhile, fans of former CM Sidaramaiah expressed disappointment on social media as he was not invited for the event.
