Sophisticated Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition technology to monitor inflow, outflow

Srirangapatna: With rains lashing Kodagu district and other catchment areas, the inflow to KRS Dam at Srirangapatna Taluk of Mandya District has been increasing by the day in past few days.

This morning, the Dam recorded an inflow of 18,644 cusecs. The water level at the Dam today stood at 92.80 ft. as against the maximum level of 124.80 ft. The maximum capacity of the Dam is 49.452 tmcft and today’s capacity was at 17.676 tmcft while the live capacity has been recorded at 9.297 tmcft.

Following increased inflow, engineers from Cauvery Neeravari Nigam Limited (CNNL) are currently performing maintenance work on the sluice gates that have been newly installed, including greasing and aligning various gate levels. This critical work is overseen by CNNL Deputy Executive Engineer Abhilash and Engineer Shivakumar.

For the first time, 136 crest gates have been replaced at the Dam. In all, there are 153 sluice gates at various levels through which water is released and in 2003, 17 sluice gates at 80 feet level were replaced as they were either corroded or damaged.

Now, the project is complete and 136 gates have been replaced, involving the removal of gates using motors and the controlled release of water. The project was initiated with the financial support of the Centre and the World Bank under the Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP) and the World Bank has released a financial aid of Rs. 69.52 crore.

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.

Each year, gates’ conditions are assessed and any faults are promptly repaired. Maintenance tasks such as greasing and aligning the pulleys, gates, and machinery are conducted to ensure proper functioning. This year, maintenance for the gates at 80 ft level and V.C. Canal gates is expected to be completed within two to three days.

SCADA technology functional

Notably, all the gates are managed by sophisticated Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) technology, which monitors both the inflow and outflow of water.

The SCADA system allows officers to monitor and operate the dam’s gates remotely from their offices by simply pressing buttons. Currently, the gates are operated manually using cables and pulleys, a less accurate and time-consuming process.

The new automation system enables officers and Dam managers to control the gates remotely with SCADA software, minimising errors, saving time, and reducing costs while improving the quality of monitoring and control mechanisms.

SCADA is a superior tool for managing Dam operations, offering high performance, multiple functions and efficient programming tools. It features user-friendly programming software with faster execution speeds. SCADA ensures real-time data recording, aiding in analysis of water levels, inflow, and outflow from each gate. This technology is more user-friendly, reliable, and robust, making monitoring and control simpler and more efficient.