No water for second crop from TB dam this year due to installation of new crest gates, says D.K. Shivakumar

Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Water Resources D.K. Shivakumar, on Wednesday made it clear in the Legislative Assembly that farmers in the command area of the Tungabhadra (TB) dam will not get water for the second crop this year as the water storage will have to be drastically reduced to facilitate the installation of new crest gates.

Tech panel’s report

Replying to the debate in the Assembly on the issues related to the TB dam, he pointed out that a technical committee had recommended replacement of all the 33 crest gates in the interest of the dam’s safety as they were all 50 years old.

While one gate had already been installed, as it had been washed away, the process of manufacturing the remaining 32 gates had begun, he noted.

Following the recommendation of the technical committee, the TB Dam Board had decided to restrict the water storage to a mere 80 tmc as against the full capacity of 101 tmc to help take up installation of crest gates, Mr. Shivakumar said.

“The installation of crest gates will begin only after the khariff season in November and will be completed by June 2026. Hence, it is not possible to provide water to farmers for the second crop in the 2025-26 season,” he said.

Water level

The water storage level will have to be reduced to 1,622 feet so that the installation of crest gates could be taken up. Already, the authorities have started releasing 9,951 cusecs of water a day from the dam, he said.

Pointing out that the water storage capacity of the dam had reduced by 25 to 30 tmc due to the accumulation of a huge quantum of silt, Mr. Shivakumar said that already a place had been identified in the Navile of Koppal district to build a balancing reservoir to make up for the water shortage.

It had been estimated that the civil works would cost around ₹ 11,000 crore, while the land acquisition cost was expected to be ₹3,978 crore. However, the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister was yet to provide an appointment to discuss these things, and it was essential to consult him as Tungabhadra was an inter-State river, he pointed out.