MYSORE: Eight persons working in a private hydel power generation project at Krishna Raja Sagar reservoir, near here, had a narrow escape after more than 2,000 cusecs of water gushed into the power generation room following a wall collapse on Friday morning. The incident has resulted in loss of hydro-mechanical machinery worth crores of rupees. It was a usual shift for the eight technical and non-technical employees of Atria Brindavan Power Project Ltd., which is building a 12 MW hydel power generating unit on the Krishna Raja Sagar North Bank, when the employees noticed cracks that had appeared on the back wall of the power generating station where the turbines had been placed.

Anxiety

Soon, water started seeping into the power-generating unit causing anxiety to the engineers and non-technical staff. Alert employees ran to safety before the wall collapsed, inundating the powerhouse.

The force of the water was such that the wall collapsed leading to the crash of the roof causing heavy damage. The extent of loss, which appears enormous, can be ascertained only after draining out the water. The gushing water washed away office furniture, stationery, mechanical spares and other things that had been stored in the building. To the misfortune of the employees who were struggling to contain the inflow of water from the reservoir, one of the two gates that had been opened to allow the water into the power generating station could not be operated as the heavy gates were electronically operated, and the water had inundated the powerhouse and the power pack room.

M.S. Raghavendra, adviser to the company, told presspersons that a wall meant to impound water, which was the second line of defence, collapsed under the pressure of water. He said: "In some circumstances, the groundwater recharge exerts pressure on the walls. The wall withstood the water pressure last year." The water would be drained in the next 24 to 36 hours, and it would take two months to start the operations, he added. A report in this regard would be submitted to the Karnataka Renewal Energy Development Ltd. after ascertaining the cause of the incident. Work on the Atria Brindavan Power Project Ltd. was started in 2003. While the first unit of the project producing six MW was commissioned last year, the second unit was to have been commissioned in the next fortnight. The power generated by this Rs. 66-crore project was being given to the Pandavapura sub-station.

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