Dam gate gives way, puts lakhs in Karnataka, Andhra at flood risk | India News – Times of India

MUNIRABAD (KOPPAL): Lakhs of people in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh braced for potential flooding after the 19th crest gate of the 71-year-old dam across the Tungabhadra river failed Sunday afternoon. The dam, about 350km from Bengaluru, saw water gushing out after the gate gave way, putting downstream districts in north Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh’s Kurnool and Nandyal on high alert.
The Tungabhadra dam, inaugurated in 1953 with a maximum storage capacity of 133TMCFT (thousand million cubic feet), had 100TMCFT of water as of Saturday, with the remaining 33TMCFT being silt.Of the 33 crest gates at the dam, 22 were opened Saturday evening, releasing nearly 1 lakh cusecs of water into the river.
However, the damaged gate has raised concerns, as engineers estimate that 60TMCFT of the stored water must be drained before they can replace the damaged gate. The process, along with constructing a new gate, could take up to four days or longer.
Districts downstream of the dam, including those in AP, have been put on high alert. Karnataka deputy CM DK Shivakumar visited the site to assess the situation. “On Saturday night, 40,000 cusecs of water was being released into the Tungabhadra river through 10 crest gates. At 12.50am, the 19th gate malfunctioned, causing a huge flow of water into the river. We’ve taken every possible precaution,” he said.
Tungabhadra Board secretary ORK Reddy assured there was no immediate cause for concern, noting that the dam’s design allows for the release of up to 6.5 lakh cusecs of water at once, though the maximum release recorded so far was 3.6 lakh cusecs in Dec 1992.
AP govt placed officials in Kurnool and Nandyal districts on alert. Kurnool city is on the banks of the Tungabhadra. CM N Chandrababu Naidu directed senior officials from the water resources department to assess the situation and dispatched a team of senior engineers to assist at the dam site.
Union minister HD Kumaraswamy emphasised the need for safety upgrades to ageing structures like Krishna Raja Sagar reservoir, suggesting the installation of gates similar to those at the Narayanapura and Almatti dams.