Fixing TB dam crest gate may take a week, says Shivakumar; Officials working on warfooting

BALLARI, KOPPAL: After one of the crest gates of the Tungabhadra dam in Hosapete broke and was washed away, Water Resources Minister DK Shivakumar has said it may take a week to replace the crest gate.

Shivakumar said water release from the dam is unavoidable to prevent any damage to the structure. The government has called in experts to fix the crest gate, but it will take about a week, he noted.

Water Resources Minister DK Shivakumar inspected the damage.

Meanwhile, the authorties have banned movement of people and vehicles on the TB Dam and on bridges across the Tungabhadra river in the region as a precautionary measure and prohibitory orders have been imposed. A team of experts from Bengaluru and Hyderabad is camping at the dam site and hope to fix the crest gate in five days so that drinking water availability and irrigation are not affected.

The snapped chain and water gushing out.

A new design for the crest gate has been chosen and the authorities plan to let out 25 tmcft of water before attempting to fix it. If it not possible, they will release 40 tmcft and try again. If about 60 tmcft of water is released, it will make the work of installation of a new crest gate easier, experts said.

Officials inspecting the damage at the dam.

While efforts are being made on a war-footing to install a new crest gate under the guidance of Kannaiah Naidu, and expert from Hyderabad, the TB dam board president, the DCs of Koppal and Vijayanagar and the minister Shivanand Tangadagi held a meeting on Sunday night. Hamid Engineering Works of Koppal and Jindal company had submitted two designs for the crest gate.

Work on designing a new crest gate and installing it is already on.

With heavy rain in the Western Ghats, the TB dam has filled to the brim in the last 20 days. But the dam authorities seem to have ignored inspection and maintenance of the crest gates which led to Gate 19 being washed away after a chain snapped. So far, about 50-60 tmcft of water has gone waste wahile farmers are left without water for irrigation.

Just a month ago, the water level in the TB dam had reached dead storage level, but due to the continuous rain in the Western Ghats and Malnad region, it has filled up in the last 20 days. Last year, the dam had not filled even after the southwest and northeast monsoon seasons.