The Tungabhadra crest gates will be replaced in a year after consultation with the states, said DK Shivakumar.

Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar addressing a public meeting at Munirabad in Koppal district on Sunday. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, who also holds the portfolio of the Water Department, said that all the 33 crest gates at the Tungabhadra lake would be replaced within a year.

Addressing a public meeting at the Munirabad Government School building, after handing over the ‘bag’ to the reservoir along with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, he said that the process of installing new gates would be started after consultation with other riparian states: Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

“Engineer Kannaiah Naidu helped us save more than 20 tmcft of water by installing a temporary log gate after crest gate no. 19 were damaged. It has saved crops on 9 lakh acres. The whole country was looking at the dam and it was a great success to fix it in a short time,” he said.

Navali reservoir

Pointing out about 33 tmcft of sludge in the reservoir, Mr. Shivakumar said that a reservoir would be constructed soon at Navali in Koppal district to compensate for the loss of water caused by the siltation of the Tungabhadra dam.

“The detailed project report is ready. About 15,000 hectares of land is required for this project. We are not able to use about 33 tmcft of water from Tungabhadra due to equal amount of silt accumulated in the reservoir. Building a reservoir in Navali is the solution to this. I will meet with the chief ministers and the irrigation ministers of the neighboring countries to discuss this project,” he said.

Calling the Tungabhadra dam a contribution of the Congress, Mr Shivakumar said no one can distort history.

“Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had called dams the temples of modern India. We had started Tunga aarti some time back, and now we have decided to start Cauvery aarti. We have formed a group and it is studying Haridwar, Kashi, and a few other places,” he said.