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- By Nidhi Giri
- Sun, 11 Aug 2024 01:55 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
One of the crest gates of the Tungabhadra dam in Vijayanagar district of Karnataka was washed away on Saturday night due to the snapping of a chain link, raising concerns for areas downstream. Meanwhile, in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, the State Disaster Management Authority (APSDMA) has alerted those living along the banks of Krishna River. All the 33 crest gates of the dam are now open, resulting in an outflow exceeding one lakh cusecs, of which around 35,000 cusecs were from the damaged 19th crest gate.
The gate number 19 was washed away due to the intensity of floodwaters after the snapping of a chain link, according to APSDMA managing director R Kurmanadh.
“Nearly 35,000 cusecs of floodwaters flowed and a total of 48,000 cusecs will be discharged downstream. People in Kurnool district's Kosiri, Mantralayam, Nandavaram and Kouthalam should exercise caution," the senior official said in a press release. Locals have also been advised to avoid crossing canals and streams.
The officials are focusing on reducing the water pressure on the damaged gate in any way. Karnataka deputy chief minister and Water Resources Minister DK Shivakumar is expected to visit the dam later in the day to analyse the situation.
A statement issued by the secretary of the dam said that all maintenance works were completed in May 2024 and that the gates were operated and checked for correctness. “On 10.08.2024, 10 spillway gates were operated i.e. from gate No. 12 to 21 to height of 1.5 feet and the discharge through the spillway gate was 22890 Cusecs. During the said incident i.e. at 10.50 PM the spillway gate No. 19 was washed away from the groove of spillway,” the statement said.
Repair work is expected to be completed in a week’s time, according to dam authorities. The construction of the dam started in the year 1949, which was completed in 1953.