A crest gate at the Tungabhadra dam in Karnataka's Vijayanagar district broke late Saturday, sparking concerns for downstream regions. While officials assured the dam’s safety remains intact, they emphasised the need to drain over half of its storage before commencing repair work.

All 33 crest gates of the Tungabhadra dam have been opened, leading to an outflow exceeding one lakh cusecs, with approximately 35,000 cusecs gushing out from the damaged 19th gate. The dam, nearly at full capacity due to recent heavy rains in the catchment areas, currently holds around 100 TMC of water.

Kannada and Culture Minister Shivaraj Tangadagi, who inspected the site early on Sunday, stated that while experts have been consulted on initiating repair work, about 60-65 TMC of water needs to be released before any repairs can begin. "The water is surging out of the damaged gate with significant force, and the dam's water level must drop by 20 feet before we can properly assess and address the situation," he explained.

The crest gate appeared to have been washed away after a chain link used to operate it broke, according to Minister Tangadagi. Alerts have been issued to downstream villages in the Ballari and Raichur districts to prevent any untoward incidents. This marks the first such incident since the dam's completion in 1953.

Currently, there is no immediate danger to downstream villages, as the dam can safely accommodate an outflow of up to 2.35 lakh cusecs. According to Minister Tangadagi, dam authorities have decided to gradually increase the outflow to expedite the necessary repair work.

Deputy Chief Minister and Water Resources Minister D K Shivakumar is expected to visit the dam later today to assess the situation firsthand.

In a statement, the dam's secretary confirmed that all maintenance work was completed in May 2024, and the gates were thoroughly operated and checked for functionality at that time. “On 10.08.2024, 10 spillway gates were operated i.e. from gate No. 12 to 21 to a 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 the spillway,” the statement said.

Dam authorities anticipate that repair work will be completed within a week. The Tungabhadra dam, one of Karnataka’s four dams with a capacity exceeding 100 TMC, has seen its efficiency affected by silt accumulation over the years. Proposals to construct a balancing reservoir have been put forward to address this issue and improve the dam's long-term performance.

Image source: PTI