VIJAYAWADA : The Andhra Pradesh govt on Sunday put the official machinery in Kurnool and Nandyal districts on a high alert over possible floods in view of washing away of one of the gates of Tunghabhadra dam in Karnataka. Kurnool and Nandyal districts are downstream of the dam. Moreover, Kurnool city is on the banks of the Tungabhadra river.
Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu has directed senior officials from the water resources department to evaluate the situation at Tungabhadra dam site.
The Tungabhadra project, a multi-state venture, is administered by the Karnataka govt. Gate 19 was carried away by substantial inflows to the project during the late hours of Saturday.
As Kurnool district is situated directly on the banks of the Tungabhadra canal, the chief minister assessed the situation with the water resources minister Nimmala Ramanaidu and special chief secretary G Saiprasad on Sunday.
He instructed the special chief secretary to dispatch a team of senior engineers, including head of designs organization, to the project site to provide assistance to the Tungabhadra reservoir authorities. The special CS said that the issue could be resolved by installing a stop lock and project officials were trying to minimise water release.
Naidu also directed finance minister Peyyavula Keshav from Anantapur to reach the dam site to assess the situation.
Keshav said that the authorities were having difficulties in setting up the stop lock due to old designs.
Residents of low-lying areas in Kauthalam, Kosgi, Nandavaram, and Mantralayam were put on high alert. Water resources minister Ramanaidu said that they have also instructed engineers of Srisailam, Nagarjuna Sagar, and Pulichintala to be prepared to manage additional inflows in case steps to install stop lock were unsuccessful.
Ramanaidu said that about one lakh cusecs of water were being released from the Tungabhadra dam, which has a capacity of 105 tmc at its full reservoir level.
Sources also reported that around 2.5 lakh cusecs of water is being released downstream.Officials are expected to undertake the stop lock work after releasing 60 tmc of water downstream.
We also published the following articles recently
The Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority alerted residents along Krishna river due to the washing away of a Tungabhadra dam gate in Karnataka because of heavy floods. The incident has led to a substantial water discharge, affecting areas in Kurnool district. Residents were advised to stay cautious and avoid crossing water bodies.
In Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, residents prepared for potential flooding after the 19th gate of the 71-year-old Tungabhadra dam failed. The breach, which occurred early Sunday, saw water rushing downstream, triggering high alerts. Engineers estimated that draining 60TMCFT of water was necessary to replace the gate, a process that could extend over four days or longer.
