Seismic recording system at Pulichintala project defunct, fails to record tremor
VIJAYAWADA: The seismic activity recording instrument at Pulichintala irrigation project across River Krishna has been found to be defective. There was lack of maintenance and hence it can, in no way, record the impact of tremors of 3.0 magnitude, it is revealed in the context of a tremor on Sunday.
AP and Telangana borders experienced a minor tremor of 3.0 magnitude on Richter scale in the early hours on Sunday. The Pulichintala reservoir and a few villages felt it, with the tremor’s epicenter seen at Chintalapalem in Suryapet district of TS. Its impact on the project and the extent any damage could not be recorded.
Water resources authorities maintain that, based on a report from National Geophysical Research Institute, the intensity of the tremor recorded at the project was only 2.0 magnitude on the Richter scale. “The project is designed to withstand the tremors of 4.0 to 6.0 magnitude on the Richter scale. The tremor of only 2.0 magnitude near the project site there may not have had caused any major impact on it,” they aver.
Though the Pulichintala project is having an built seismic instrumentation facility to record the magnitude of earthquake and its impact on it, lack of regular maintenance for some time made it defunct, it is said.
However, the water resources authorities are planning an impact assessment in consultation with NGRI local authorities to gauge the exact magnitude of the tremor felt at the project so as to take up restoration works, if needed.
Moreover, the water resources authorities have not restored one of the radial crest gates (No. 16) that was washed away in August, 2021, except for making a temporary arrangement.
Pulichintala project superintendent engineer R. Srirama Krishna said, “The seismic instrumentation at the Pulichintala project is not in working condition for some time due to lack of regular maintenance. As the magnitude of the tremor near the project is just 2.0 on the Richter scale, we expect no major impact on the project.”
The project has 24 radial crest gates. Nearly 42 tmc-ft of water is currently stored in the reservoir against its full reservoir capacity of 45.7 tmc-ft.
