Replacement of Gates for Tungabhadra Dam

 Anantapur: Work on replacement of 33 crest gates of interstate irrigation project Tungabhadra dam is progressing fast, with a target to replace all the gates by June next.

The life-span of the TB dam gates was originally estimated to be 45 years. However, the gates have not been changed even as 25 more years have passed. The authorities were caught off guard when the 19th gate washed away last year.

Following advice from an experts’ team led by Kannayya Naidu, the work on replacement of the gates were taken up by the TB dam authorities after holding traditional rituals like homas and poojas at the dam site on December 5.

Officials said the initial ceremony for installation of 33 new crest gates at the Tungabhadra reservoir in Munirabad, Koppal taluk, commenced with rituals and Maha Sudarshana homam.

The dam's safety is a matter of serious concern as all the crest gates had exceeded their lifespan 25 years ago.

The TB board took up the work on replacing all the gates with a deadline of June next year. A Rs 52 crore contract had been awarded to the Ahmedabad-based Hardware Tools and Machinery Project Company for the replacement of all the gates. Crest gates are currently being manufactured on the outskirts of Adavi Somapur village of Gadag district in Karnataka.

TB dam superintendent engineer Narayana Naik told Deccan Chronicle that 15 crest gates have been kept ready for installation while work for the rest of the gates was progressing.

Presently, the TB dam has about 61tmc-ft of water. The experts committee has asked the authorities to maintain the water level below 68tmc-ft.

The dismantling of the crest level at 8ft of water would be done by cutting the upper edges of all the gates in 20 days.

Naryana Naik said the 19th gate stopwatches would also be dismantled along with other gates.

“Presently, the water level is at 61tmc-ft in the reservoir and this is likely to come down to 43tmc-ft in 20 days. Experts are cutting the edges of all gates to take up further work. The entire replacement of gates would be completed by June next, to store maximum water in the dam.”

Notably, the TB dam storage was very low though the capacity was of 105tmc-ft since the past one year.