All 152 sluice gates of KRS Dam replaced with new gates from 2011 to 2023; automation awaited

Mysuru/Bengaluru: In response to the recent washing away of a crest gate at the Tungabhadra Reservoir in Vijayanagara district, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar announced that the State Government will form an Expert Committee to evaluate the condition of all dams in the State.

This includes the Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS) Dam in Mandya, the Harangi Dam in Kodagu and the Kabini Dam in H.D. Kote within the Cauvery Basin.

Before the committee is officially constituted, a team of engineers from CNNL, led by Water Resources Department Secretary Krishnamurthy Kulkarni, has been assessing the reservoirs.

The team inspected the Harangi Dam and Chiklihole Dam in Kodagu, reviewing the functionality of the gates, crest gates, water release mechanisms and storage systems. They are also scheduled to visit the KRS and Kabini reservoirs soon.

The incident at the Tungabhadra Reservoir occurred when a chain link of one of the crest gates (the 19th gate) snapped, leading to its washout and prompting an alert in downstream areas due to a large water release.

Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel H.D. Kumaraswamy proposed installing stoplogs at all reservoirs, including the KRS Dam, to prevent similar issues. He noted that stoplogs were implemented at Narayanapura and Alamatti reservoirs based on World Bank recommendations but criticised their absence at both the Tungabhadra and KRS Dams.

Kumaraswamy urged the State Government to address safety measures at the KRS Dam, which lacks stoplogs due to the technology not being available at the time of its construction.

Stoplogs are large logs, timber or steel beams stacked on top of each other, with their ends supported by guides on each side of a channel or conduit. They provide a cost-effective and easily manageable temporary closure compared to bulkhead gates.

Although the sluice gates of the KRS Dam have been replaced, officials suggest that stoplogs could be beneficial for the gates that release water into irrigation canals.

152 sluice gates replaced

At KRS Dam, the replacement of 136 sluice gates, part of a project started in 2019, was completed in April 2023.  16 sluice gates were replaced in 2011. With this project now finished, all 152 sluice gates at KRS have been updated with new ones.

The replacement of these gates was carried out under the Central Water Commission’s Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP). This initiative aimed to address issues such as leakage, corrosion of gate components and operational difficulties.

Automation Centre work pending

Work is underway to install computer-controlled crest gates at the KRS Dam, replacing the current manual system where each gate is operated through a chain. However, the Automation Centre, which will manage these new systems, is not yet operational because construction at the South Gate of KRS is still in progress.

Once the building is complete, it will take an additional three months to set up the wiring and install the automation systems. Until then, the gates will continue to be operated manually. Although the modern computer-controlled technology has been installed, its functionality is pending the completion and activation of the Automation Centre.