Karnataka   

KRS dam to get new floodgates

BANGALORE: To mark the platinum jubilee of the Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) reservoir near Mysore, the State Government has decided to install new floodgates to the dam.

It has also decided to take up modernisation work of two major canals — Visvesvaraya and Devaraj Urs.

The KRS dam, one of the biggest dams in South India, caters mainly to the agricultural and domestic needs of people in and around Mysore and Mandya districts. Designed by the great engineer Sir M. Visvesvaraya, the dam boasts of state-of-the-art design and was indigenously built using the resources and talent available during his tenure.

As many as 152 floodgates have been installed to store 49 tmcft of water in the reservoir in the early 1930s.

To prevent the leakage of water and ensure availability of water to the canal tail-end farmers, the Government has decided to install new gates at an estimated cost of Rs. 70 crore, Minister for Water Resources Basavaraj Bommai told presspersons here on Wednesday.

The reservoir, which has height of 124.80 feet, ensures irrigation to 2.5 lakh hectares of land in Mysore and Mandya districts during kharif and rabi seasons.

An expert would prepare a detailed project report soon to take up modernisation work of the Visvesvaraya and Devaraj Urs canals and their distributaries. The right bank lower canal meets drinking water needs of Mysore and Mandya districts.

Mr. Bommai said the Government had decided to celebrate the platinum jubilee year of the KRS dam in a more meaningful way by taking of modernisation works of the dam as well as the canals. A large number of farmers in the tail-end areas have not been receiving water for their fields owing to leakage of water. Some distributaries would be repaired partially while other will be repaired fully, he said.

Asked about decline in the water storage owing to accumulation of silt over the years, he said the issue had been discussed with Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa. Accumulation of silt had reduced the storage levels in all dams. An ultra violet instrument has been used to measure water and silt levels in Alamatti and Narayanapura dams constructed across the Krishna. Similar technique would be used to measure water and silt levels in KRS dam, Mr. Bommai added.

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