Engineers work on repairing 19th crest gate of Pampa Sagar dam
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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Prime organiser of Messi event in Kolkata arrested over ‘mismanagement’ after stadium chaos
Kolkata (PTI): The police on Saturday arrested Satadru Datta, the prime organiser of the Lionel Messi football event at Salt Lake Stadium here, following widespread chaos at the venue, which prompted the Argentine World Cup-winning captain to leave the field early.
Taking suo motu cognisance of the stadium unrest, Datta was held by the Bidhannagar Police for “mismanagement” of the event from the Kolkata airport, where he had gone to see off Messi and his entourage on their way to Hyderabad.
"We are looking into whether there was any mismanagement from the organiser's side, which led to the chaos at the stadium. He has been detained, and the police have now brought the situation under control," West Bengal DGP Rajeev Kumar said at a press conference.
A senior police officer later confirmed that Dutta has been arrested. Till reports last received, the police were interrogating him and his manager inside one of the departure lounges of the airport.
The organiser has given in writing that he will refund the prices of tickets he sold to the disappointed spectators, Kumar said.
What was supposed to be a marquee football spectacle turned into widespread violence and disorder at the stadium after Messi’s brief and tightly ring-fenced appearance, his first at the venue since 2011, left large sections of the crowd frustrated, as they failed to catch a glimpse of their superstar despite having travelled from far and wide, paying hefty sums for tickets.
Police said they were also investigating how organisers allowed sale of bottled waters and beverages inside the stadium premises, which are banned items during such events.
Thousands of water bottles were used as missiles and lobbed inside the pitch by angry spectators, who also uprooted bucket seats from the gallery and used them as ammunition inside the field against the defending police and security personnel.
Spectators alleged that water bottles were being sold at a massive premium inside the stadium despite police disallowing such items from outside at the entry gates.
Police agreed there was an underlying tension in the galleries on account of Messi not showing his footballing skills on the field, which only got aggravated after a bunch of VIPs, including State Sports Minister Aroop Biswas and unidentified people, blocked the football icon’s view during the limited time he spent on the ground.
“We are on the job, and will ensure that whoever is responsible for what happened today at Salt Lake Stadium will be punished, and action will be taken against the authorities concerned,” said Jawed Shamim, ADG, Law and Order.
