CM Shivakumar inaugurates 33 spillway gates of Tungabhadra Dam

Koppal: Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Thursday, June 25, inaugurated the newly installed 33 spillway gates of Tungabhadra Dam here.

Union Minister for Jal Shakti C R Patil, Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana N Chandrababu Naidu and A Revanth Reddy, respectively, were present at the inaugural held at the Government High School Ground in Munirabad taluk of Koppal district.

Several Ministers, public representatives and officials from the three states attended the event, which the Water Resources Department and the Tungabhadra Board jointly organised.

Ahead of the stage event, the leaders visited the dam area, offered a special pooja there and inaugurated gates numbered 17, 18, 19 and 20 of the dam, and then unveiled the plaque.

One of the crest gates (19th gate) of the reservoir in Koppal district was washed away after its chain link snapped in August 2024, following which the downstream areas were put on alert as huge quantity of water was being released. The incident occurred amid heavy inflows during the Monsoon season.

Following this, a team of experts headed by hydro-mechanical engineer N Kannaiah Naidu successfully installed the temporary stop-log gate in place of gate number 19, which was washed away, in about a week’s time.

Subsequently, based on the recommendations of experts, all 33 gates were replaced, according to official sources.

Water Resources Minister Ramalinga Reddy had recently said the installation of state-of-the-art new crest gates, designed to last for the next 55 to 60 years, has been completed very successfully at a cost of approximately Rs 51 crore.

The Tungabhadra Dam command area spans across regions of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana. It supports vital agricultural and livelihood needs, relying on the Tungabhadra River’s water.