VIJAYAWADA/HOSAPETE: Minister for Finance Payyavula Keshav has said works to replace the washed away crest gate No. 19 of the Tungabhadra dam are going on at a brisk pace, and the gate is likely to be fixed in a day or two.
Speaking to mediapersons in Anantapur on Wednesday, he said, “Despite the risk involved, engineers are working day and night to fix the gate at the earliest to save the precious water. The works to fix the gate have commenced. As an alternative to the washed away gate, several small gates have been constructed expeditiously. They will be delivered at the dam site on Thursday.”
Further elaborating, Payyavula said the gates need to be fixed without a steady anchor on fast-flowing flood water. Jindal company was contacted, and it agreed to provide cranes to fix the gate. “This is one of the risky and brave attempts to fix the crest gate when the flood water is being discharged at the rate of 30,000 cusecs from the damaged gate of the Tungabhadra dam. Everyone is praying for the success of the gate installation attempts.”
Meanwhile, engineers and experts began works on fixing a temporary crest gate at the Tungabhadra dam. The works commenced after Vijayanagara District Incharge Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan and officials of the Tungabhadra Board offered puja to the Tungabhadra river.
Four metal sheets, each weighing 10 tonnes, were brought to the dam using heavy-duty cranes. Three more heavy duty cranes and five more steel sheets will reach the dam on Thursday. The engineers and experts said they would complete the gate installation work within three days.
“The outflow is being maintained at 1.20 lakh cusecs at the dam. Already, 23 TMC of water has been released, and efforts are being made to save water. Hydro-mechanical engineer N Kannaiah Naidu, who is leading a team of engineers, has promised that the work will be completed by August 17. Once this work is completed, the dam will have adequate water to enable farmers of Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh irrigate their crops,” Zameer Ahmed Khan said.
On the night of August 10, the gate number 19 of Tungabhadra dam got swept away in the flood water. The chain link of the gate snapped under the pressure of heavy flood. Following the collapse of the gate, water was let out from the project at the rate of nearly one lakh cusecs, and the level was decreased in a regulated manner.
The high alert that was issued in Kurnool and Anantapur districts downstream of Tungabhadra dam continues though the panic created initially has subsided. However, the Kurnool district administration is closely monitoring the situation as several villages and towns, including Kurnool City, are located on the banks of Tungabhadra river. SDRF and NDRF teams have been put on standby to meet any eventuality.