Mysuru: For the first time in the history of the iconic Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS) Dam, all the 136 sluice/ crest gates out of the total 153 will be replaced. 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.

In all, there are 153 sluice gates (also called crest gates or surplus sluices) in the Dam 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 authorities have taken up the replacement project where 136 gates will be replaced.

WORLD BANK AID

The project is being taken up with the financial support of the State government and the World Bank under the Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project and the World Bank has released a financial aid of Rs. 69 crore which the State Government will repay in stages as per the understanding.

There are 17 crest gates at 80 feet level, 40 at 106 feet level, 48 at 103 feet level and another 48 gates at 114 feet level taking the total up to 153. The Dam is 2.62 kilometres long and this is for the first time such a major overhaul is being taken up said sources at Cauvery Neeravari Nigama Limited (CNNL).

GATE CATEGORIES

These 153 crest 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.

EXPERT TEAM

A separate Expert Engineers Team and Technical Experts Team have been constituted under the leadership of Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL) Chief Engineer Shivaprasad and Retired Superintending Engineer, Irrigation Department Vijay Kumar.

The design and pattern of the sluice gates replacement project has been approved by the World Bank. “We have received three applications for technical bid to implement the project and of them, one is a foreign company. We need to examine the technical know-how, expertise, experience of the bidders before allotting the works,” sources in CNNL told Star of Mysore.

The project is likely to begin in the first week of May and it will take over one-and-a-half years for the project to complete as factors like rain, water storage levels and monsoon forecast have to be taken into consideration.

MAINTENANCE WORKS

At present, the authorities have taken up the work of cleaning the sluice gates. With the water level standing at 89 feet (of the maximum water level of 124.4) in the Dam, a team of CNNL engineers have taken up maintenance works. As part of the maintenance work, gate experts along with the operators are removing rust from crest gates, 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.

Weeds on the Dam are also being cleared and over 30 employees are on the job. Maintenance works would be completed before the monsoon begins and it is a regular process. According to CNNL officials, safety examination of the canal sluice gates, turbine sluice gates, machinery used to pull them, and other structures has been completed and now works on greasing the machinery attached to the gates are on, officials said.

The maintenance works are being carried out under the supervision of CNNL Assistant Engineer, Kishore, Junior Engineer Radha, Assistant Executive Engineer C. Vasudeva and In-charge Executive Engineer Ramakrishna.