Krishnagiri: 2 engineers at KRP dam suspended for negligence

Krishnagiri: V.Samraj, an assistant executive engineer at KRP dam and his junior officer Karthikeyan were placed under suspension for the broken shutters issue that resulted in loss of huge quantity of stored water. The PWD administration took the extreme action on Thursday, a week after the gate number one in KRP dam in Krishnagiri district had broken without withstanding the pressure of the water storage level at 51-ft height.

According to sources, the shutter was broken allegedly due to the negligence of the officials. This could have been avoided if the engineers have discharged small quantity of water into the river, or through the irrigation canals that might have balanced the pressure and saved the storage. On November 29, the 52-ft high KRP dam reached its near fullest storage capacity at 51-ft level. At around 4.15 pm that day, water gushed out through the gate that was partially broken.

As the officials were unable to take immediate measures to stop the outflow, it led to the water getting wasted into the South Pennar river till the dam's storage level touched 32-ft in height to facilitate the repair works. On Friday, Krishnagiri district collector C.Kathiravan went to the KRP dam and reviewed the works for replacing a new gate after dismantling the old one. He is sure that the KRP dam will be ready before the scheduled time to increase its storage level.