Kaleshwaram Fiasco Pushes Irrigation Dept for Inspection of All Dams

Hyderabad: After the fiasco at the Kaleshwaram barrages, irrigation department officials are learnt to have decided to take up safety inspections at all dams in the state as per the regulations. Of the 174 medium and major dams, safety investigations have been taken up at only 25, and it was decided that the rest will also undergo a full safety audit soon.

This decision was taken at a meeting of senior irrigation department officials on Tuesday where they are learnt to have reviewed steps taken last year and the ones that needed to be taken this year. As per the Dam Safety Act, pre and post monsoon inspections – the first for preparedness of the dams to face monsoon flows in rivers, and the second to check for damages or needs for repairs post monsoon – are required.

Tuesday’s meeting was also attended by the State Dam Safety Organisation officials, engineers from the operations and maintenance wings. It is learnt that the fresh inspections and audits will include dam safety, dam breaking analyses, and emergency action plans in case they are needed for each dam.

While the flood design analysis would be requested to be conducted by the Central Water Commission, Walamtari, the Water and Land Management Training Institute, would be tasked with the dam break analysis and preparation of emergency action plants, it is learnt. The analyses will include poring over 40 years of flood data, the capacities of each dam to withstand floods, and so on.

The meeting was attended by officials from Karnataka who briefed about the steps being taken at Narayanpur and Almatti dams for their safety and that the required studies would be conducted there too.

The meeting discussed the state of lift irrigation schemes and it is learnt that officials concluded that some 65 small and medium lift irrigation schemes need repairs.