Proposal to replace Tungabhadra dam crest gates, says Shivakumar

NT Correspondent Raichur: Deputy Chief Minister and Water Resources Minister DK Shivakumar said that there was a proposal to replace the crest gates of the Tungabhadra dam, which was being considered. The dam otherwise known as the Pampa Sagar Reservoir is located near Hospet in Vijayanagara district. On August 11, the 19th crest gate of the reservoir had collapsed but was restored in the days to come. Shivakumar made the comments at the Raita Dasara event in Sindhanur town of Raichur district on Tuesday. “The technical committee on safety has given me a report to replace the crest gates of Tungabhadra dam. I have discussed replacement of crest gates with CM, local MLAs and district in charge minister.

The work will start. Our government is committed to protect the interest of the farmers of the region,” he added. Critics such as Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy said that the crest gates of the Pampa Sagar Reservoir were obsolete, adding that a stop-lock mechanism should be introduced in the crest gates. He pointed out that Narayanapura and Almatti dams were equipped with stop-lock gates. The Deputy CM said the issue, among others, would be discussed in a meeting on the Tungabhadra reservoir, which would be called soon. “MLAs, former minister Nadagouda and farmer leaders cutting across party lines have given petitions about issues pertaining to Tungabhadra reservoir. I will soon call for a meeting to discuss these issues.” “The Tungabhadra dam is 70 years old. One of the crest gates was damaged and we managed to repair it on war footing. I personally monitored the repair work. The whole country was watching this incident but we pulled it off,” he added.

Shivakumar said that the Navali balancing reservoir would also be discussed. “The leaders of the region have appealed for the Navali balancing reservoir. Due to silt, Tungabhadra dam is unable to store 33 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) of water and Navali dam will be able to compensate for that. I will hold discussions with the chief ministers of Karnataka, Andhra and Telangana regarding this,” he said.