The question of how to save the waters of the Tungabhadra River is weighing heavily on the minds of farmers in Kurnool and Kadapa districts. The main concern is determining to what level the dam should be emptied to install a ‘stoplog’ in place of the washed-out gate.
If tens of TMCs of water are lost, what will happen to the farmers who depend on this water? These issues are fueling a heated debate. Efforts are now underway to install a stoplog to conserve as much water as possible in the Tungabhadra reservoir.
When the gate was washed away, the reservoir had stored 105.78 TMC of water. Currently, with the water level at 1,629 feet, the storage has decreased to 91.3 TMC, meaning around 14 TMC of water has already been lost. Initially, it was believed that the stoplog could only be installed when the water level drops below the spillway, at 1,613 feet, which would leave only 42 TMC of water.
Given the current storage, this would mean releasing nearly 50 TMC, a prospect that deeply concerns farmers facing drought conditions. As a result, various strategies are being explored to conserve as much water as possible.
The Water Commission is considering the possibility of installing the stoplog after lowering the water level to 1,625 feet. If successful, this would allow the dam to retain 76.5 TMC of water, thereby saving 35 TMC. Additionally, there is a plan to construct a temporary gate at the 1,621-foot level to further minimize water loss.
