Pampa Sagar Dam's crest gate fixed a week after it was swept away
Bengaluru, Aug 17: The damaged crest gate of the Pampa Sagar dam on the Tungabhadra river in Koppal district was on Saturday finally fixed after its chain snapped and it was swept away on August 11 night, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said.
The dam with a water holding capacity of 104 TMC had to release about 35 TMC downstream to neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and Telangana after being filled to the brim in the recent rains.
The decision to empty the dam was taken to prevent any damage to the dam and take up the repair work.
"Our engineers and senior officers gave me information with video message that the water flow has stopped," Shivakumar, who holds the Water Resources portfolio, told reporters here.
According to the DCM, there was an inflow of 65,000 cusecs water, which the officers were trying to store.
The Karnataka government had roped in hydro-mechanical engineer N Kannaiah Naidu from Hyderabad to fix the damaged gate.
Along with him, the Karnataka government sought the assistance of JSW Group to manufacture steel items for the dam, and two contractor firms Hindustan Engineering and Narayana Engineering.
The DCM thanked Naidu, JSW, the two contractor firms, the officials of the Tungabhadra Board on behalf of the state government.
He also said the crest gate had only one chain due to which it happened. The state government would work to have two chains to avoid such recurrences in future.
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7 held in election-related violence in Assam: Police
Guwahati, Apr 9 (PTI) Seven people were held in connection with election-related violence at two places in Assam, officials said on Thursday.
Besides, minor clashes also erupted at several polling booths after voting began in the morning, with people suffering minor injuries, they said.
Inspector General of Police (Law and Order), Akhilesh Kumar Singh, told PTI that violence took place in Tamulpur and Sivasagar on Wednesday night, hours before polling began for the assembly elections at 7 am.
"We got reports of a clash between two groups at Tamulpur last night. Police reached the spot immediately and tried to control the crowd. When they did not listen, a few rounds were fired in the air to disperse the mob," he said, adding that four people were arrested from the site.
In another incident, two to three members of a political party were attacked in Sivasagar, the IG said.
"We have detained three persons there. The investigation is going on," he said.
Akhil Gogoi, who is seeking re-election from the Sibsagar seat, alleged that BJP nominee Kushal Dowari was behind the incident.
In a series of social media posts, Gogoi claimed two people were injured, and their vehicles were also damaged in the attack.
Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) Chief Executive Member Hagrama Mohilary said a detailed enquiry will reveal the cause of the clash in Tamulpur.
"The situation is normal now. We are monitoring it, and there is enough security presence to avoid any untoward incident," he said.
Polling is underway for the 126-member assembly to decide the electoral fate of 722 candidates. It will continue till 5 pm, with May 4 scheduled for the counting of votes.
A number of minor clashes have erupted at several polling stations in Sribhumi, Golaghat and Nagaon districts.
"Most of the clashes took place due to heavy rush, with people fighting over breaking the queue," an official said.
At some polling booths in places like Patharkandi, Merapani and Raha, supporters of ruling and opposition parties clashed, he said.
"However, police were already present in those areas, and the situations were handled instantly. The polling is going on uninterrupted," he added.
The BJP-led NDA is seeking a third consecutive term in power in these elections, while the Congress is looking to reclaim the state it lost a decade ago.
