Tungabhadra Dam Gate Chain Snaps: Massive Water Flow into River Basin Causes Panic

Team Udayavani, Aug 11, 2024, 8:52 AM IST

Koppal: The 19th crest gate of the Tungabhadra Dam, a lifeline for thousands of farmers, experienced a chain failure, leading to a significant outflow of water into the river basin. The incident, which occurred around 11:00 PM, has caused widespread panic among the residents living near the river.

Due to the recent heavy rains in the coastal and Malnad regions, the Tungabhadra Dam has been receiving an excessive inflow of water. Although the dam has a total storage capacity of 133 TMC (thousand million cubic feet), 33 TMC of this capacity is currently filled with silt, leaving the dam with an effective capacity of 100 TMC.

The dam had filled to its maximum capacity of 100 TMC. As the inflow continues to rise, the dam’s crest gates have been used to release excess water into the river basin.

However, on Saturday night, the chain of the dam’s 19th crest gate snapped, causing an uncontrolled flow of more than 35,000 cusecs of water into the river basin. This situation has raised significant concerns among the villages along the riverbanks.

The Tungabhadra Irrigation Department has advised the riverbank residents to remain vigilant. Koppal MLA Raghavendra, along with a team of experts from the Irrigation Department, visited the site to assess the situation.

Given the damage to the main gate’s chain, repairs have become challenging, posing a major problem for the technical experts. Various officials have been stationed on-site to monitor the situation closely.

There have been similar incidents in the past, where a gate on the left-bank upper-level canal of the dam broke, releasing a large amount of water into the river basin. At that time, the technical team faced significant difficulties in repairing the gate.

The current chain failure of the main crest gate has once again caused great concern.