HYDERABAD: Karnataka irrigation officials proposed to construct a new dam on Tungabhadra river as the present Tungabhadra dam’s capacity was reduced considerably due to silt. The Karnataka officials made this proposal at the Tungabhadra Board meeting held here on Thursday. The officials said that the dam’s capacity has been reduced considerably due to the formation of silt over the years and desilting was impossible.
The Tungabhadra dam was catering to the needs of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka. However, the Telangana irrigation officials, who were present at the meeting, said that the proposal of Karnataka could not be approved at the Board meeting, as it should be decided by the State governments and should be referred to the Central Water Commission (CWC) also, the Telangana officials opined.
Speaking to reporters later, Tungabhadra Board chairman D Rangareddy said that Karnataka government has proposed to construct another storage dam with a capacity of 40 tmcft on Tungabhadra, as the present dam’s storage capacity was reduced. He said that once the modernisation of Rajolibanda Diversion Scheme was completed, the Board would take control over it.
AP engineer-in-chief Venkateswara Rao said that they wanted Karnataka to expedite the modernisation works of Tungabhadra Low Level Canal. Meanwhile, Telangana officials wanted the Board chairman to resolve issues raised by AP farmers over modernisation of RDS. The TS officials urged the Board to take control over RDS after modernisation so that Telangana farmers would get their share of water in Tungabhadra.