Covid-19 hampers replacement of outdated KRS reservoir crest gates

Mandya: The Covid-19 pandemic is said to be hampering the replacement of 134 crest gates of Krishnarajasagara reservoir situated in Srirangapatna taluk. The gates are three decades old and Cauvery Neeravari Nigam Limited (CNNL) has taken up the work to replace them at an estimated cost of Rs 59 crore.

The World Bank is funding it under Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP). The work has received approval from the Central Water Commission (CWC) and the contract was awarded to Gujarat-based Hardware Tools Company in 2020 and deadline to complete the task is two years. Though the Gujarat firm started the work last year, it suspended it in March owing to shortage of industrial oxygen. When Corona cases were surging in March, the government instructed companies across the country to increase the production of liquified medical oxygen by stopping industrial oxygen. As a result, the firm faced shortage of industrial oxygen, forcing it to stop

work, according to a company official. He said although the company has procured required materials for replacement of the crest gates from West Bengal and Jaipur in Rajasthan, shortage for manpower is delaying the work.

A CNNL official said that 48 of the automated crest gates that were installed when the dam was constructed are defunct and 40 others are operated using a single crane. It is difficult to open the gates,

if the inflow increases to two lakh cusecs and above. It is inevitable to replace the gates, but is unlikey until next summer as a large quantity of water is presently being stored in the dam.