Srirangapatna: Even as the debate over the safety and stability of KRS Dam in the taluk has continued in the backdrop of illegal stone quarrying and mining, a 6-member Central team of the Union Jal Shakti Ministry visited the Dam site on Friday and carried out an inspection.

As per the directions of Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, the team headed by the Union  Ministry’s Additional Secretary Debashis Mukherjee arrived at the Dam site yesterday morning and held a meeting with officials of the State Irrigation Department at Royal Orchid Brindavan Hotel located near the Dam. 

The other members of the Central team were Gulshan Raj, Pramod Narayan, Yogesh Nanasaheb Bhaishi, C. Rajagopal Singh and S.S. Bakshi. 

During the two-hour meeting,  the team gathered inputs on the technical aspects of Dam’s structure and collected all information sought by the Union Minister and the Ministry. 

After the meeting, the Central team inspected the Dam for about an hour and collected vital data from the Dam officials. 

Irrigation Department sources said that the Central team had visited the KRS Dam to collect information about the start of works concerning the first phase of Dam reinforcement. 

The team also gathered information on whether the stability of the Dam will increase if the existing sluice gates are replaced with modern ones. After inspection, the Central team directed officials to get prepared for the launch of reinforcement works, the sources said. 

Pointing out that officials have told the team that sluice gates cannot be replaced right now as the reservoir is full to the brim, the sources clarified that there were no talks on illegal quarrying or the Dam safety.

Prior to the inspection of the Dam, the Central team offered puja to the Statue of Goddess Cauvery.

Although the KRS officials maintained that the Central team had visited the Dam for learning about the pros and cons of replacing sluice gates, other sources said that the Central team had in fact come to make an assessment of the impact of alleged illegal quarrying going on in the vicinity of the Dam. 

The team also sought inputs on whether illegal quarrying has continued, the extent of the damage caused by quarry blasts and whether the Dam stability is threatened by such blasts. 

The team is also said to have gathered inputs on reports that the Dam has developed minor cracks due to the impact of blasts carried out by quarrying units that are functioning in the vicinity of the reservoir.

Meanwhile, it is learnt that the Central team’s visit was a result of Mandya MP Sumalatha Ambarish’s recent representation to the Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat alleging that KRS Dam’s safety and stability is threatened by illegal quarrying in the region.