Odisha’s Hirakud dam to have more spillways

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Burla, Oct 17:

Taking note of the massive siltation and other related issues in Hirakud dam in Odisha’s Sambalpur district where cracks have appeared due to lack of proper maintenance, the dam authorities have planned to construct more spillways of the dam for release of more floodwaters to ensure its longevity.

File pic
File pic

“The decision for construction of more spillways of the dam has been taken after the recent visit of a high-powered team of the Central Water Commission (CWC). While the budget estimate for the survey work of the spillways has almost finalized, the construction work of the spillways would begin from the current fiscal”, said Yashowant Parida, executive engineer of the dam.

The tender process for construction of additional spillways of the dam would begin in a few months, he added.

It may be mentioned that the cracks and holes near the spillways of the main dam were noticed during an underwater survey of the dam in 2002-03. The dam authorities had later carried out repair of some of these cracks.

While the dam earlier had the provision of gross discharge of 15 lakh cusecs of water from the spillways in 1957, considering the present situation and future of the dam, provisions for release of 24 lakh cusecs of water has been planned, sources said.

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