TB crest gates installation likely to be completed by the end of May

Minister for Backward Classes Welfare, Kannada and Culture and Koppal district in-charge Shivraj S. Tangadagi on Sunday visited the Tungabhadra Dam near Hosapete to inspect the ongoing work to replace crest gates and reviewed the progress of work with senior officials.

The large-scale replacement work was taken up following the snapping of the chain link of Crest Gate No 19 on August 10, 2024 raising serious concerns about the safety of the decades-old gates at the reservoir.

Speaking to the media at the worksite, Mr. Tangadagi said that the decision to replace the ageing crest gates was taken after a high-level meeting convened ahead of the Winter Session of the State Legislature.

“The replacement work has already begun. The installation of one gate, Crest Gate No 18, has been completed successfully. It took eight days to install one gate,” he said.

He noted that initially the contractor proposed installing six gates a month, at the rate of about five days per gate. “After installing the first gate and gaining confidence, the team is now saying that they can install eight gates a month. As per the contract, dismantling all 33 old gates and installing new ones should be completed by June 2026. But now the contractor is confident of finishing the work by the end of May,” Mr. Tangadagi said.

The Minister said that while the plan is to deploy one team for dismantling old gates and two teams for installation, the contractor has, in fact, deployed two teams each for dismantling and erecting the gates, accelerating the pace of work.

“On the dismantling front, four gates have already been completely removed,” he said and noted that each gate is 20 ft high and 60 ft wide.

Giving details of the financial arrangements, Mr. Tangadagi said that Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have contributed ₹10 crore each towards the project, while Karnataka has also released its share of ₹10 crore.

“The tender has been finalised for ₹54 crore and the remaining amount will be released shortly,” he said.

He added that another expert team will soon check the functioning of the newly installed Crest Gate No 18 by lifting and lowering it.

“What I can clearly say is that the work is progressing very fast. Officials are monitoring the work on a daily basis and submitting reports to the State government. The Chief Minister is also being briefed every day,” he said.

Mr. Tangadagi thanked farmers in the Tungabhadra command area for cooperating with the State government by foregoing the second crop to facilitate the gate replacement work.

“We will ensure that all the crest gates at the Tungabhadra Reservoir are replaced and water is supplied to farmers for irrigation for the next season during the monsoon,” he said.

He also shared details of fabrication work under way. “Fabrication for 15 gates is already completed, while eight gates are in the fabrication stage. Work on four gates is being carried out at Hosapete, of which two will be ready in two days. Fabrication of four more gates is in progress at Gadag and two of them will also be ready shortly,” he said.

District Guarantee Schemes Implementation Authority president Reddy Srinivas, Deputy Commissioner Suresh B. Itnal, Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer Varnit Negi, Superintendent of Police Ram Arasiddi, Tungabhadra Board Secretary O.R.K. Reddy, Superintending Engineer Narayana Naik, section officers G. Kiran and Pampavathi D.K. and KNNL Assistant Executive Engineer Dharmaraj were, among others, present during the inspection.