Following the snapping of the chain link of a crest gate on Tungabhadra dam, the Karnataka government has decided to constitute a Dam Safety Committee to study the safety aspects of all the reservoirs in the State and submit a report.
Deputy Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar, who also holds Major Irrigation portfolio, said the proposed committee would submit its report within a month.
Repair work begins
Mr. Shivakumar, who inspected the Tungabhadra dam site, said the repair work started in the early hours of Monday. Explaining the processes involved, he said the Tungabhadra Irrigation Board comprises members from the Centre as well as the three riparian states. Information related to snapping of chain link had been passed on to all the members soon after the incident came to light besides discussing the issue with experts who had worked on dam safety issues.
As per their suggestion, the relevant map of the dam had been obtained to help the crest gate makers to understand the requirements. “I have spoken to the Jindal factory that makes the gates and they have commenced repair work on Monday,” he said.
Though it was necessary to reduce the storage to complete the repair works, the authorities were striving to save 50 to 60 tmcft of water so that farmers could get water to support at least one crop in the year, he noted.
Trying to allay the fears of farmers, he said instead of releasing all the water to the river, measures were being taken to divert it to canals and to tanks to fill them up.
He said information in this regard had already been provided to Union Minister of State for Water Resources V. Somanna.
No blame game
He refused to blame the officials for the snapping of chain link on the crest gate of Tungabhadra dam by pointing out that the facility was nearly 70 year old and hence it could not withstand the pressure of water. He also denied reports that the dam safety committee had already hinted at such a possibility and pointed out that the Tungabhadra dam had just a chain link unlike the new dams that have both chain link and rope system.
Published - August 12, 2024 07:22 pm IST
