Quality related problems of the KLIS barrages was pointed out by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy who, as part of his aerial survey of flood-hit areas, briefly stopped over at the Yellampalli reservoir on Thursday.
Nizamabad: The century-old Pocharam dam at Nagireddypet on the border of the undivided Nizamabad and Medak districts proved that construction quality can stand not just the test of time, but also hand way more load than designed.
Earlier this week, the dam handled 1.82 lakh cusecs of water, more than double its 70,000 cusecs capacity. Tuesday’s breach to the dam’s bund was but a blip and the structure withstood the massive battering it received.
The performance of the 103-year-old Pocharam dam, which has a spillway over the top for release of excess water, managed to weather the worst storm in its history and showed its construction quality stood in contrast to the plight of the three barrages of the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation scheme at Medigadda, Annaram, and Sundilla. The KLIS barrages have had quality issues with respect of not just their construction but even their planning and design. There are fears that storing water at the barrages would further erode their stability, the barrages have been taken out of service until a possible rescue and rehabilitation plan can be drawn.
With regard to the breach at the Polavaram dam, T. Srinivas, irrigation department’s engineer-in-chief (operation & maintenance) told Deccan Chronicle on Thursday: “The repairs to the breached bund section of about a five-metre span will be completed in the next two or three days. There is no danger to the main structure itself. The amount of water that came was unprecedented but the Pocharam dam is safe.”
Quality related problems of the KLIS barrages was pointed out by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy who, as part of his aerial survey of flood-hit areas, briefly stopped over at the Yellampalli reservoir on Thursday. Answering a question from a reporter, Revanth Reddy said the Kaleshwaram project barrages had similar quality problems and issues and if water is stored at them, the problems may get exacerbated.
“They have the same quality problems. If water is stored at the barrages as demanded by Harish Rao or K.T. Rama Rao, and because of the problems, if something untoward happens, who will be answerable? Entire villages downstream will be washed away, there will be huge loss of lives,” Revanth Reddy said.
Earlier in the day, after the floods at the Pocharam dam had receded and water stopped flowing over the dam, and the actual extent of the damage could be inspected. Irrigation minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy said “happy to share with all, our 103-year old Pocharam reservoir has bravely withstood a massive flood inflow of 1,82,000 cusecs, far beyond, its maximum flood discharge of 70,000 cusecs.” He added that there were “tense moments yesterday. It was a great relief for me and my irrigation colleagues to see the project standing strong,” adding that to see Pocharam withstand the enormous flood was “truly a proud and emotional moment.”
The foundation for the Pocharam dam was laid by the then Nizam government in 1917 and the project was completed by 1922 at an estimated then cost of Rs.27.11 lakh. This was the first irrigation project in Telangana for drinking and irrigation needs of people of undivided Nizamabad and Medak districts.
The Pocharam reservoir with a dam and bund stretching 1.7 kilometres and standing 21 feet tall, has 58 kilometres of canals, and 73 distributaries spread over Nagireddypet, Yellareddy in Kamareddy district and Medak.
On Thursday, with the unprecedented floods, 14 villages under Pocharam faced inundation problems and several families facing possible inundation of their homes, shifted to safer places. However, the worst fears stayed unfounded as the Pocharam dam not only regulated the huge flood, and survived a scare.
