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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Karnataka Congress MLA Gaviyappa wants CM to stop some poll guarantees, draws DK Shivakumar's ire
Bengaluru/Vijayanagara, Nov 26: Karnataka Congress MLA H R Gaviyappa on Tuesday urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to drop some poll guarantees, citing lack of funds, which drew sharp response from Deputy CM D K Shivakumar.
The ruling party MLA from Vijayanagara suggested that the election guarantees have made it difficult to provide houses to the poor in the state.
“Because of guarantee schemes, there is difficulty in providing houses to poor. We are also asking the Chief Minister to drop two or three schemes, which are not needed. Let’s see what the Chief Minister says,” Gaviyappa said in a public meeting in Vijayanagara.
He, however, maintained that he would stand by the decision taken by the Chief Minister.
ALSO READ: Eligible families won't be inconvenienced with BPL card revision: Karnataka minister KH Muniyappa
According to the Congress MLA, the CM raised Rs 40,000 crore this year keeping development in mind.
The legislator's statement irked Deputy Chief Minister Shivakumar.
“This is Congress party. I am going to issue him a showcause notice. He can’t do that. No question of closing any guarantee. We have committed to the people of Karnataka. No one can raise their voice (against the guarantees),” the Deputy CM, who is also the Congress state president told media in Bengaluru.
He said a Congress MLA cannot speak against the guarantees.
Those who are ineligible will not get the benefit, Shivakumar said adding the same policy has been adopted in the recent revision of BPL cards.
The Karnataka government has decided to remove the government employees and income tax payees from the list of BPL card holders as per the Central government norms.
