CHITRADURGA: Finally, waters from the Upper Bhadra Project started to flow into the Vanivilas Sagar, the only dam in central Karnataka, in the wee hours of Sunday.
After a lot of hardship in getting power for the motors from Tumakuru and Hassan, the first pump revved to life at 12:20 am, and waters gushed from the pumphouse at Shanthipura to that of Bettada Tavarekere. After that, the waters were lifted to the Kukkesamudra tank, which then took the natural course of the Vedavathi river.
Chitradurga MP A Narayanaswamy had been camping at the project area at Lakkavalli since Saturday evening to ensure that the waters start flowing to the district by midnight. "We are expecting about one tmcft of water within the next 15 days. The second pump will start functioning from Wednesday and both the pumps will release more water to the VV Sagar dam. My aim at present is to get about 10 tmcft of water during this season and to ensure that the dam gets filled from the Upper Bhadra Project waters," Narayanaswamy told The New Indian Express.
He also said that they wanted to get all the four pumps operational, but due to works going on at the 'Y' Junction near Ajjampura, only two pumps will be running. "From the next year, all the pumps will be functional," he added.
With the water level steadily rising in the Bhadra dam due to incessant rains in the catchment area, the pumps will operate till December. The water will flow to the river near the Kukkesamudra tank of Kadur taluk from the Upper Bhadra Project pumphouse and then it will take the natural course through the Vedavathi river.
The alternate arrangement was made by the MP, who, in the first meeting with engineers, directed them to ensure flow of water in 2019. Having a capacity of 30 tmcft and a height 130 feet, the VV Sagar dam crossed the 100-feet mark in the previous year.
It first crossed the 100-feet mark in 1911. The last time the water level crossed the 100-feet mark was in 2010 (112.75 ft). The construction of the dam was started in 1897 by then Mysore Maharaja Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar.
The water level at Bhadra dam stood at 184 feet on Saturday, against a maximum of 186 feet. The inflow to the dam was 6,033 cusecs and the outflow was 2,468 cusecs, with 2,500 cusecs released to the right bank canal and 50 cusecs through sluice gates.