Tungabhadra dam gate washed away, downstream on alert

Hosapete/Koppal/Hyderabad: One of the crest gates of the Tungabhadra reservoir was washed away after its chain link snapped on Friday midnight, putting downstream areas on alert. 

A huge quantity of water is being released from the dam and public’s entry into the reservoir has been restricted. However, the Vijayanagar Deputy Commissioner said that people on the banks of the river need not worry. 

The Andhra Pradesh government has warned people in Kurnool district to be vigilant, particularly in Kouthalam, Kosgi, Mantralayam and Nandavaram mandals that are on the banks and downstream of the Tungabhadra river.

The reservoir’s 19th crest gate was swept away for a distance of 100 metres. Tungabhadra Board Secretary ORK Reddy said the chain link was installed 70 years ago. “It snapped as the welding gave way. This is the first such incident in the history of the dam. We have initiated a detailed probe,” he said.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is scheduled to visit the dam on Tuesday to assess the situation. Deputy CM DK Shivakumar, who is also the Water Resources Minister, visited the dam on Sunday.

He said two firms have been approached to repair the gate. The water storage in the dam should be brought down to 60 tmcft for installing a fresh gate. It has been planned to release over one lakh cusecs to bring down the water storage in 3-4 days. 

Reddy said a fresh crest gate will be installed once the water level goes down by around 20 feet.

Vijayanagar Deputy Commissioner MS Diwakar said people on the banks of the river need not worry even if two lakh cusecs of water is released.

AP on alert

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu reviewed the situation with Irrigation Minister Nimmala Ramanaidu. Naidu instructed the irrigation department to send a team of engineers to the site to help the dam authorities restore the gate.

Engineers of Srisailam, Nagarjuna Sagar and Pulichintala projects have been alerted to handle any additional inflows due to water release from the Tungabhadra dam.