Hyderabad: Following damages and breaches in irrigation projects like Peddavagu and Palair Reservoir during the last monsoon season, the Telangana State Dam Safety Authority (SDSA) has decided to implement safety measures for all 60 major and medium irrigation projects before the coming summer. The state govt will also conduct a thorough safety check of all 174 irrigation projects, including major, medium, and minor, over the next two years.
In its recent meeting, the SDSA emphasised assessing seepage issues, bund strengths, and concerns like jungle growth and encroachments. Officials said that Peddavagu on Godavari river had floodgates that could not be opened during the monsoon, and encroachments and bushes on the weir caused breaches, potentially threatening nearby villages.
To ensure proper maintenance, the irrigation department has assigned chief engineers, superintending engineers, and executive engineers as ‘owners’ of the projects, holding them responsible for the operation and safety of the dams.
“The identification of operation and maintenance works will be completed by March, with estimations and tenders to follow. These works will be carried out from April to June,” said G Anil Kumar, engineer-in-chief of irrigation department, who also heads the SDSA
The National Dam Safety Act, enacted in 2021, mandates all states to establish dam safety authorities. The Act requires that all projects, large and small, undergo safety assessments within five years. Although three years have passed, Telangana had delayed these checks due to pending guidelines.
Now, following incidents at Palair, Peddavagu, and the Kaleshwaram barrages (Medigadda, Annaram, and Sundilla), the govt is focusing on improving safety measures, sources said.
Hyderabad: Following damages and breaches in irrigation projects like Peddavagu and Palair Reservoir during the last monsoon season, the Telangana State Dam Safety Authority (SDSA) has decided to implement safety measures for all 60 major and medium irrigation projects before the coming summer. The state govt will also conduct a thorough safety check of all 174 irrigation projects, including major, medium, and minor, over the next two years.
In its recent meeting, the SDSA emphasised assessing seepage issues, bund strengths, and concerns like jungle growth and encroachments. Officials said that Peddavagu on Godavari river had floodgates that could not be opened during the monsoon, and encroachments and bushes on the weir caused breaches, potentially threatening nearby villages.
To ensure proper maintenance, the irrigation department has assigned chief engineers, superintending engineers, and executive engineers as ‘owners’ of the projects, holding them responsible for the operation and safety of the dams.
“The identification of operation and maintenance works will be completed by March, with estimations and tenders to follow. These works will be carried out from April to June,” said G Anil Kumar, engineer-in-chief of irrigation department, who also heads the SDSA
The National Dam Safety Act, enacted in 2021, mandates all states to establish dam safety authorities. The Act requires that all projects, large and small, undergo safety assessments within five years. Although three years have passed, Telangana had delayed these checks due to pending guidelines.
Now, following incidents at Palair, Peddavagu, and the Kaleshwaram barrages (Medigadda, Annaram, and Sundilla), the govt is focusing on improving safety measures, sources said.
