Work to install temporary gate at Tungabhadra dam may start in 2 days

The work to install a temporary stop lock gate in place of the 19th crest gate of the Tungabhadra dam that got washed away is expected to begin in the next two days. 

Efforts will be made to try and lower a part of the temporary gate even as water flows out. 

The new gate is being readied in eight parts at Hosahalli in Koppal taluk, at Sanklapur and on the premises of the Jindal company in Toranagal. 

Five parts of the gate, four-foot tall and 60-foot wide each, are being prepared using iron element. They will be placed one above the other. 

The whole work will be undertaken with the guidance at every step, of dam gate design expert Kannayya Naidu. 

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was updated with all this information by the authorities during his inspection of the dam on Tuesday.    

One element of the stop lock gate will be lowered as soon as the water level dips to 1,625 feet (76.48 tmc ft storage) amid the water flow. If that attempt fails, it will be done again when the water level dips to 1,621 feet (64.16 tmc ft storage). 

The authorities are confident that the water storage will increase to 90 tmc ft, with rains expected in the subsequent months. 

They say it is still possible to provide water to 10 lakh acres for the first crop of the season. Of this, 9.26 acres (including two crops) are in the state, 6.25 lakh acres are in Andhra Pradesh and 87,000 acres are in Telangana.