The Irrigation Department has allayed fears over the safety of the Kabini reservoir following reports of a “leak” from the dam.
Executive Engineer Raghupathy told The Hindu that there was no danger to the dam as it has been inspected by design and structural engineers, who have given a report vouching for its structural stability.
He said the dam is subject to maintenance and hence people living in the vicinity of the dam need not fear.
There were apprehensions among a section of the locals at Beechanahalli in H.D. Kote following leakage of water from the concrete walls of the dam.
Vivek Cariappa, a farmer from H.D. Kote, said the authorities should plug the leak and not allow the damage to aggravate and accumulate over the years.
Bad maintenance and poor water management had resulted in the crest gates of the Taraka reservoir being washed away a few years ago, which flooded low-lying areas and damaged crops, he said. He also flayed the authorities for the practice of impounding water till it reaches the maximum level and then opening the crest gates to match the inflow, which results in artificial flooding downstream.
Instead of building up storage level, they should start releasing water early so that there was not much pressure on the structure, said Mr. Cariappa.
Meanwhile, the inflow into the Kabini on Friday was at the rate of 35,159 cusecs while outflow was 35,000 cusecs.
The water-level was 2281.04 feet against the full reservoir level (FRL) of 2284 feet and the live storage was 7.85 thousand million cubic feet (tmc ft).
The water-level at the Krishnaraja Sagar was 109.8 feet against the FRL of 124.8 feet. The inflow was 34,956 cusecs while outflow was 7,633 cusecs and live storage was 23.14 tmc ft.
Harangi Similarly, the water-level at the Harangi was 2,855.84 feet against the FRL of 2,859 feet, and the inflow was 7,175 cusecs against an outflow of 10,550 cusecs. The live storage was 6.68 tmc ft.
