HOSAPETE: Efforts to instal temporary stoplogs at the broken crest gate of Tungabhadra Dam to stop water outflow, did not find success on Thursday, despite a team of experts working to a weekend deadline.
Some senior officials said a beam of the dam was obstructing the installation of the stoplogs. As per the expert team’s plan, three iron sheets, each measuring 4x20 sqft, were designed by JSW Steel and two other engineering companies.
A small difference in the sizes made it difficult to fix the new crest gate. Until Thursday evening, the expert team was attempting to instal the stoplog using a crane, at the base of the crest gate.
The stoplog operation, a first of its kind in the country, was started on Wednesday but the actual work was attempted on Thursday. Terming it an ongoing operation, the team said installation will again be attempted from Friday.
A senior TB Dam official said, “We made all efforts to fix the stoplogs to crest gate 19 until Thursday evening. We hope it will be a success, though there are some technical issues. Two cranes arrived from JSW Steel plant on Wednesday.
Of the five metal sheets, three are ready and have reached the dam. If the base of the first metal sheet is fixed successfully, it is easy to fix the other four. Three more sheets were made by some engineering works companies. One stoplog has the capacity to stop 25 cusecs water outflow.”
The senior official said that after the gate was washed away, more than 25 tmcft water outflow was reported from the dam. At present, 76 tmcft of water is stored in the dam. An expert team is working hard to stop the outflow of water.