There will be no compromise on structural safety or the quality of rehabilitation, the minister said
Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Saturday announced that the designs prepared by IIT Bombay and AFRY India would be placed before the Central Water Commission (CWC) technical oversight committee at its meeting on Oct 5.
Tenders for the works will be floated after the committee’s approval, he said. Sources said the two agencies and other technical experts suggested that the diaphragm walls of the three barrages be raised from one end to the other, as they suspected weaknesses in the foundations. Reviewing the rehabilitation proposals with senior irrigation officials, Uttam said the state govt had finalised designs for restoring the safety and operational reliability of all three barrages. These interventions are intended to address deficiencies in the earlier energy-dissipation arrangements, foundation stability and under-seepage control,” the minister said. Uttam said the rehabilitation strategy had been formulated after taking into account the concerns raised by the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) and other expert bodies regarding the safety of the barrages. The minister said the proposed designs were undergoing validation through computational fluid dynamics modelling at the Central Water and Power Research Station (CWPRS), Pune.
The agencies also reportedly suggested that the downstream portions of the barrages be extended and strengthened, as issues had been identified at all three barrages. The modelling would assess hydraulic behaviour and verify the efficiency of the proposed energy-dissipation measures under different flow conditions.
The minister said the execution framework would incorporate stringent quality-control procedures, independent testing and clearly defined timelines.
Senior officials would continuously monitor progress to ensure that the rehabilitation was completed before the next monsoon.