The Tungabhadra Dam, known as the `boon of Rayalaseema’, is on the brink of danger and the engineers fear it may not be possible to release water for the next season. All the gates of this project, which provides irrigation and drinking water to lakhs of acres and hundreds of villages in Karnataka, including the Telugu states, have rusted.
Ultrasound tests have revealed that all the project gates need to be replaced immediately. The capacity of 19 gates out of the total 33 gates has been reduced by 40 to 55 percent. This has led to panic among farmers with experts saying that full water storage is difficult. A recent study has concluded that all 33 gates of the Tungabhadra Dam need to be replaced.
As per the recommendations of the Central Water Resources Committee, National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA), and AK Bajaj Committee, a comprehensive study has been conducted on the capacity of all the gates and the project in the Tungabhadra Project. KSNDT Services, which is skilled in radiography, ultrasonic, MPT, and DPT tests, conducted the study.
It has been made clear that all the gates have been replaced as their capacity has been reduced. The AK Bajaj Committee had also said the same thing in September last year. It will cost Rs 250 crore. The water flow in the project usually increases by July. That is, there is only three months left.
How much work can be done in the meantime and how much water can be stored in the Tungabhadra has become a topic of discussion. On the other hand, experts say that it is difficult to store full water in the Tungabhadra dam in the current situation.
KSNDT Services, which thoroughly tested the capacity of the 32 gates in the Tungabhadra dam, gave a huge report. It gave 15 different results for each gate. It found that all the gates were heavily rusted and had large holes, and in some places the gate plates were badly damaged due to the holes.
The report stated that the gusset plates, lower stiffeners, girders supporting the gates, and supporting plates were also badly corroded and perforated. All the welding at the place where the plates were attached to the gates was badly damaged and cracks had formed. It was found that most of the rivets were corroded and some had lost their appearance.
The end box roller was also heavily corroded. The report stated that the gates may have lost their original nature due to rusting and being in suitable conditions for a long time. It was clarified that all the gates had to be replaced as there were no conditions to repair the old welding joints. The project gates usually have a lifespan of 45 years. This project has already been built for more than 70 years.