<p>Hosapete (Vijayanagar dist): Hydro-mechanical engineer Kannaiah Naidu affirmed on Tuesday that the installation of new crest gates in the Tungabhadra dam had been undertaken perfectly and that it would last 20 years without any maintenance. </p>.<p class="bodytext">He said that work on installing the last 33rd gate had begun and that the new crest gates would last another 70 years with proper maintenance every year. The replacement of gates was necessitated after gate number 19 of the dam was washed away as the chain link snapped in 2024. </p>.<p class="bodytext">The expert hydro-mechanical engineer was addressing a press conference after inspecting work on installing new crest gates in the dam. </p>.<p class="bodytext">Naidu said that he was a member of the national dam safety authority and that none could question once he had certified the safety of gates. </p>.<p class="bodytext">Work on installing 26 of the 33 crest gates had been fully completed and testing work was on for 15 of them. Slim plates were being installed for some of them. </p>.<p class="bodytext">The placing of the last gate would be completed by Saturday, the expert said, adding that the pending welding works would be fully done by this month end. </p>.<p class="bodytext">Chain links were expected to arrive here from Chennai by May 11 and all other works except incorporating the chain links would have been finished by May 15, he said. </p>.<p class="bodytext">Installing chain links was not that complicated and incorporating the chain link of one gate each would be completed every day. </p>.<p class="bodytext">This work could be undertaken even when the dam was full of water. It would not be a problem even if it rained in May, Naidu said. </p>.<p class="bodytext">So, it could be said with certainty that water could be impounded safely in the reservoir this year, thec expert asserted. </p>.<p class="bodytext">O R K Reddy, secretary of the Tungabhadra Board, gave a break-up of the expenses so far for replacing the 33 gates of the reservoir. </p>.<p class="bodytext">The new gates would cost Rs 44 crore, he said, while the chain links would cost Rs 5.1 crore. Consultation charges would come to around Rs 1.34 crore, he said. The whole exercise would cost a total of Rs 51 crore, Reddy said, adding that Rs 29.5 crore had been paid to contractors so far. </p>.<p class="bodytext">Superintendent engineer Narayana Naika and others were present. </p>
<p>Hosapete (Vijayanagar dist): Hydro-mechanical engineer Kannaiah Naidu affirmed on Tuesday that the installation of new crest gates in the Tungabhadra dam had been undertaken perfectly and that it would last 20 years without any maintenance. </p>.<p class="bodytext">He said that work on installing the last 33rd gate had begun and that the new crest gates would last another 70 years with proper maintenance every year. The replacement of gates was necessitated after gate number 19 of the dam was washed away as the chain link snapped in 2024. </p>.<p class="bodytext">The expert hydro-mechanical engineer was addressing a press conference after inspecting work on installing new crest gates in the dam. </p>.<p class="bodytext">Naidu said that he was a member of the national dam safety authority and that none could question once he had certified the safety of gates. </p>.<p class="bodytext">Work on installing 26 of the 33 crest gates had been fully completed and testing work was on for 15 of them. Slim plates were being installed for some of them. </p>.<p class="bodytext">The placing of the last gate would be completed by Saturday, the expert said, adding that the pending welding works would be fully done by this month end. </p>.<p class="bodytext">Chain links were expected to arrive here from Chennai by May 11 and all other works except incorporating the chain links would have been finished by May 15, he said. </p>.<p class="bodytext">Installing chain links was not that complicated and incorporating the chain link of one gate each would be completed every day. </p>.<p class="bodytext">This work could be undertaken even when the dam was full of water. It would not be a problem even if it rained in May, Naidu said. </p>.<p class="bodytext">So, it could be said with certainty that water could be impounded safely in the reservoir this year, thec expert asserted. </p>.<p class="bodytext">O R K Reddy, secretary of the Tungabhadra Board, gave a break-up of the expenses so far for replacing the 33 gates of the reservoir. </p>.<p class="bodytext">The new gates would cost Rs 44 crore, he said, while the chain links would cost Rs 5.1 crore. Consultation charges would come to around Rs 1.34 crore, he said. The whole exercise would cost a total of Rs 51 crore, Reddy said, adding that Rs 29.5 crore had been paid to contractors so far. </p>.<p class="bodytext">Superintendent engineer Narayana Naika and others were present. </p>
