Srisailam Dam's Gate no. 10 Springs Big Leak, Dam Safety Already Flagged by NDSA
Three of the 12 gates of the Srisailam dam have sprung leaks, with the worst leakage occurring from Gate No. 10 on Saturday, giving no let up to the dam on whose safety the National Dam Safety Authority has expressed serious misgivings.
HYDEARABAD: Three of the 12 gates of the Srisailam dam have sprung leaks, with the worst leakage occurring from Gate No. 10 on Saturday, giving no let up to the dam on whose safety the National Dam Safety Authority has expressed serious misgivings.
The Srisailam dam, built on Krishna river, is experiencing a surge in inflows with more than 1.88 lakh cusecs of water as on Saturday evening. It is expected to continue receiving not less than 1.2 lakh cusecs of water for each of the next six days as per the irrigation department’s flood forecast system.
On Saturday morning, against its full reservoir level of 885 feet, water stood at 876.9 feet, according to data from the irrigation department. It had 172.55 tmc ft of water against its reservoir capacity of 215 tmc ft.
The water level leaves just about another eight feet left before the reservoir reaches its full level indicating that there is pressure of the accumulated water, and continuing inflows, on the gates. Each of the dam gates stands 55 feet in height and has a width of 60 feet which means in terms of height, 47 feet of the dam’s gates are already under the water line.
It was not just the Gate 10 from where water was leaking on Saturday, but also from Gates 5 and 6, though not with the same force. Though the leak from Gate 10, was described as ‘substantial’ by an official who evaluated the images of the leak, Srisailam dam superintending engineer P. Sreeramachandra Murthy was firm in saying there were absolutely no leaks from the gates and that any reports were a creation of social media accounts seeking eyeballs.
Several of the dam’s gates had undergone repairs over the past few months to plug leaks as part of ‘routine’ maintenance. The latest leakage adds to the concerns expressed by the NDSA on the safety of the dam’s structure, its urgent calls for taking up repairs without any loss of time.
In its report submitted to the dam authorities this April, the NDSA flagged several critical safety issues dam, declaring unequivocally that the problems at the dam are “serious” and have the “potential to compromise the dam’s safety.”
Incidentally, Gates 5 and 6, where leakages were observed on Saturday, were also flagged by the NDSA which called on the dam authorities to “minimise operation of gates 5 and 6” to prevent further damage to temporary protection structures in the form of huge steel cylinders erected just after the spillway. These cylinders were put in place to protect the dam and prevent further damage to it from severe and serious erosion with underground cracks extending under the dam’s foundations.
These cracks are part of a huge plunge pool that formed as a result of water cascading from the dam when its gates are opened. The NDSA had said that the plunge pool situation must also be attended to without any delays.
Growing problem
Leaks add to safety worries at Srisailam dam
Substantial leak from Gate 10, leaks from Gates 5, 6.
Dam authorities deny any leakage from the gates.
Reservoir receiving huge inflows, expected to continue.
47 feet of the 55 feet tall gates under the reservoir water line.
NDSA had already flagged several safety issues at Srisailam dam.
