Hyderabad: In an incident that allegedly occurred on August 1, the retaining wall of the Sunkishala project of the Nagarjuna Sagar dam across Krishna river in Nalgonda collapsed. No casualties were reported.
The collapse occurred during a shift change when the water breached the dead storage and spilt over to the Sunkishala pump house.
The decision to open the tunnel gate fully before the completion of the protective wall has been identified as a critical factor contributing to the collapse.
The collapse also raised deep concern over the security of the workers.
The Sunkishala project is essential for transferring water from the Krishna river through Nagarjuna sagar dead storage to meet the requirements of Hyderabad.
On August 6, irrigation department officials decided to open 12 gates to release water downstream as the water level almost touched Full Reservoir Level (FRL) following heavy inflows from the Srisailam project and other areas upstream. A total of 22 gates have been lifted up to five feet to release the water downstream.
