The release of water along the right bank canal (RBC) and left bank canal (LBC) of Tunga reservoir in Gajanur, has resulted in the caving in of the concrete lining at many places. This has created a lot of apprehension among farmers over the quality of the ongoing canal modernisation work.
It may be mentioned here that the State government had undertaken the work of modernisation of LBC and RBC of Tunga reservoir in April 2016 at the cost of Rs. 239 crore. The reservoir was constructed in the year 1955 and the canals have not been repaired since then. The LBC is 102 km long and RBC is 54 km long. The reservoir has command area of around 7,000 hectares.
With the objective to ensure availability of water for agricultural land in the tail-end regions of the command area, the State government had ordered the modernisation of the canals. In the first phase, it has been planned to modernise the LBC up to 34 km length and RBC up to the length of 26 km.
Delay in work
The modernisation work along RBC and LBC has been completed up to the length of four km each. The modernisation work was halted owing to the onset of the monsoon.
On July 14, water was released along the RBC and LBC for kharif crops. Unable to handle the pressure of the flow, the concrete walls of LBC collapsed at places near Ramenakoppa, Thattikere, Hosakoppa, Honnapura and surrounding areas.
Jagadeesh, a farmer from Ramenakoppa village said that owing to the modernisation work, water was not provided to the farmers in command area for the summer crops this year. “The farmers have sacrificed a crop for the sake of modernisation. It is unfortunate that the concrete bed has been washed away at many places and the walls have also collapsed,” he said. The sub-standard work has also given rise to the fear of crop loss among the farmers, Mr. Jagadeesh added.
He stated that even the pace of the modernisation work was also not on expected levels and till date, not even 10 per cent of the work had been completed.
Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council K.S. Eshwarappa inspected the spots where the concrete walls had collapsed on Sunday.
Violation of rules
Mr. Eshwarappa told presspersons that the terms and conditions mentioned in the tender that includes the use of vibrating mechanical paving machine for concrete lining, maintaining 9 cm thickness of the concrete lining and the construction of columns with metal pillars at regular distance along the lining to lend stability to the structure, have been violated in the execution of the work. He took the officials of Department of Water Resources present at the spot to task for the poor quality of work.
Mr. Eshwarappa also demanded the immediate re-construction of the lining.
