Sluice gate snag creates flooding in Munirabad

Delay in fixing the sluice gate of the Tungabhadra Left Bank Low-level Canal created a flood-like situation in Munirabad village on Wednesday, prompting the authorities to move the people in vulnerable areas to safety.

More than 300 cusec water gushed out of the low-level canal after the sluice gate snapped, leaving the Pampavana submerged.
The floodwater gushed into houses at Ambedkar Nagar, Chellaiah Camp and the bus stand.

The dam authorities, along with the local body staff, diverted the floodwater from Munirabad back to the river by breaking a portion of bridge and road.
The authorities stopped releasing water into the canal to prevent any untoward incident. But this action did not amuse the Left Bank canal farmers, who were busy transplanting paddy.

Farmers from canal downstream - Gangavati, Karatagi, Sindhnur and Kanakagiri region - arrived at the dam site in groups and took the officials to task.
Expert divers from Belagavi have been roped in to fix the sluice gate and the work is expected to go till midnight, said the TB dam officials.

Several villages on canal downstream in Karatagi taluk were flooded after the canal gate gave in. Now, with the outflow having come down, the situation is better in the affected villages.

On Wednesday, the water level in Tungabhadra dam is 1,632.70 ft, just 1.3 ft short of full reservoir level. The reservoir, with a gross storage of 101 tmcft, has storage of 99.70 tmcft. The inflow stood at 50,067 cusec while 92,626 cusec was discharged into the river through 21 crest gates.