MUNIRABAD(KOPPAL): Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday said all 33 crest gates of the Tungabhadra dam will be replaced as soon as possible.
As per an expert committee report, the crest gates are in a bad shape at present and the government will take necessary steps to save the state’s oldest dam, he said after felicitating the team that replaced the damaged crest gate number 19 of the dam. The CM and some members of his cabinet also offered bagina to the Tungabhadra river on the occasion.
Siddaramaiah said that after the crest gate was damaged, he was communicating regularly with top officials and district district in-charge ministers of Koppal and Vijayanagara, Shivaraj Tangadagi and Zameer Ahmed Khan, respectively.
“By the grace of God and the team of experts, temporary stop logs at the gate were successfully installed,” he said.
TB dam is a major water source for agricultural activities in 9,26,438 acres in Karnataka, 6,25,097 acres in Andhra Pradesh and 87,000 acres in Telangana, he said. “Farmers in three states were worried after the crest gate broke. But during my last visit to the dam after the incident, I had said I would come again and offer bagina,” he said.
“After the crest gate broke, BJP and other leaders tried to politicise the incident, though it was a technical error. The TB Dam is among the oldest in the state and was constructed in 1953. Crest gates should be changed every 50 years. This is a lesson for everyone,” he added.
Deputy Chief Minister and Water Resources Minister DK Shivakumar said the hard work by the expert team of 130 completed an impossible task. “I personally thank all those behind this. We will finish the installation of 33 new crest gates within this year,” he added.
Siddaramaiah became the first CM to offer bagina
Siddaramaiah became the first CM to offer bagina to the TB Dam in its 71-year history. After it was constructed in 1953, no CM had offered bagina at the dam.