By S.T. Ravikumar

The ambitious project to replace the 143 sluice gates (crest gates) of Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS) Dam has been delayed inordinately and COVID has only worsened the situation. There are a total of 173 sluice gates of various dimensions and at various levels. 

The reservoir, constructed across River Cauvery, was conceived and executed by Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar and Sir M. Visvesvaraya in November 1911 and completed in 1931-32.The Dam is 2.62 kilometres long. 

The gate replacement project first made news in April 2019 and the first-time-ever major scale works was taken up under the funds released by the World Bank that had sanctioned Rs. 68 crore. The project has been awarded to Gujarat-based Hardware Groups Company that emerged as the successful bidder. 

Works began in right earnest in 2019-2020 and within months, the work was hit when the first Coronavirus wave invaded India and a lockdown was announced. Just when things seemed looking up with the fabrication work beginning at the Dam premises in full swing, the second wave hit the city, further impeding the work. Only 10 percent of the works have been completed so far. 

The KRS Dam had 173 crest gates when it was built in 1932. But over the passage of time, there were water leaks, damage and corrosion in the Dam, despite regular maintenance of crest gates, following which the Cauvery Neeravari Nigam Limited (CNNL) had replaced 22 crest gates at a cost of Rs.18.8 crore in 2003. 

Funds released under DRIP 

The second phase of works is to replace 143 gates. The funds were released by the World Bank under the Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP) based on the request by the Central Water Commission (CWC) that has submitted the Detailed Project Report and the design. 

The World Bank has released Rs. 500 crore where works at various dams would be taken up in phases. The first phase will cover KRS Dam (Mandya), Alamatti Reservoir (Bagalkot) and Bhadra Dam (Bhadravathi) and the second phase will cover Harangi Dam (Kodagu), Suvarnavathi Reservoir (Chamarajanagar) and Kabini Dam (Mysuru). 

The World Bank has given a deadline of two years to complete the project. The CNNL has to pay back the borrowed money to the World Bank in instalments in a span of 25 years. The old crest gates will be disposed of by auction.

Welding gas unavailability

Though some amount of fabrication work has been completed, the project engineers are unable to take the project forward, CNNL Chief Engineer Shankaregowda told Star of Mysore. CNNL governs KRS Dam and other dams in Cauvery Basin. Yesterday, Shankaregowda and team inspected the work site and also took stock of the present state of the sluice gates. 

Over 40 skilled workers from Bihar, West Bengal and Gujarat are doing the fabrication work and they have been provided on-site accommodation near the South Gate. Some of their colleagues have returned to their native places. “The gates are made of cast iron. Iron welding is crucial for fabrication works and this is not possible at this juncture as all the welding gas cylinders have been taken away to be filled with Liquid Medical Oxygen to mitigate the oxygen shortage for COVID patients,” Shankaregowda said. 

Material shortage

Apart from non-availability of welding gas, there is a shortage of other materials due to lockdown as nobody is willing to take the risk, he added. 

The 173 sluice gates have been divided into three categories such as river sluices, which are the lowest level gates used to release water into the river in critical situations; irrigation sluices, three gates each in north and south directions, which are above river sluices and storing sluices or silt gates, which are not being used now.

The sluice gates are regularly maintained and as part of the maintenance work, gate experts along with the operators remove rust accumulation, apply grease, give a fresh coat of paint, undertake welding, oiling, movement verification, etc. The works also include greasing of the trolleys and the chains that bind the gates.