Koppal, Karnataka: Engineers have been sweating it out to fix a new crest gate of the Pampa Sagar dam on Tungabhadra river in Koppal after the existing one was swept away on August 11.
The replacement of the crest gate started from Wednesday night and is likely to take at least another 24 hours to 48 hours, sources in the Water Resources department said.
The Karnataka government has roped in hydro-mechanical engineer N Kannaiah Naidu from Hyderabad to fix the 19th gate of the dam, the sources added.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Naidu said usually the life span of the crest gate of a dam is about 40 years but the one which swept away, had served 30 more years than the average.
ALSO READ: CM Siddaramaiah issues direction to restore damaged crest gate of Tungabhadra reservoir in 3-4 days
After the gate gave way late on Sunday night, all the gates of the dams were opened and water was released to prevent any damage to the dam.
The exercise included reducing the existing water holding capacity 105 TMC to 65 TMC to minimise the stress on the dam and carry out repair work at the earliest.
An alert has been sounded to the districts downstream of Tungabhadra river in Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
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Dhanbad (Jharkhand) (PTI): At least four workers died after being buried under coal slurry in Jharkhand's Dhanbad district on Saturday, a police official said.
The incident took place at Moonidih coal washery in the command area of Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL).
"Bodies of all four workers were dug out of debris during a rescue operation," Putki police station in-charge Waqar Hussain told PTI.
The incident took place when coal slurry was being loaded into trucks by workers, during which a large chunk of slurry fell and trapped several workers underneath, officials said.
The deceased have been identified as Manik Bauri, Dinesh Bauri, Deepak Bauri, and Hemlal Gope.
Meanwhile, the family members of the deceased and local villagers placed the bodies in front of the washery gate and began a protest.
They demanded compensation, jobs for dependents and action against those responsible for the incident.
Police and administration officials are trying to pacify the protesters, an official said.
