After a crest gate of the Tungabhadra dam in Karnataka's Vijayanagar district was washed away, leading to heavy discharge of water from the reservoir, the BJP on Sunday accused the Government of negligence, stating that Water Resources Minister D K Shivakumar had no time to run his department. Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka said that such a situation would not have arisen if the Congress government had held regular meetings of the dam’s technical committee and ensured it was in fit shape. “Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who is also water resources minister, is busy working as an agent of the (Congress) high command rather than managing his department. There were ample opportunities for the government to repair the dam which was empty during drought last year. But where was the time for the DyCM to repair it as he was always busy seeking his turn to be CM?” the BJP leader said. The incident has come as a shock for farmers dependent on the dam, as they were looking for a bountiful harvest following good rainfall in the monsoon season, Ashoka said, adding that there were fears that crops sown by farmers would fail due to insufficient water supply. BJP state president B Y Vijayendra said that more than 30 villages downstream of the reservoir were facing a flood threat after the chain connecting the 19th crest gate of the dam broke, causing the gate to be washed away. “This incident shows the negligence of officials tasked with handling such a large dam,” he said, demanding that the government shift people in low-lying areas downstream of the dam to safe places. BJP MP and former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai accused the Government of not taking the recommendations by the dam safety committee seriously. “Based on its recommendations, funds should have been released (by the state government) and works should have been taken up. This happened due to negligence,” he said. Meanwhile, Shivakumar, who inspected the dam on Sunday afternoon, said the issue would be addressed in the next four to five days. “We have updated Telangana and Andhra Pradesh authorities about the status of the dam. We will ensure its safety,” he said. According to the minister, water levels will have to drop to 50-60 TMC before repair works are taken up. Though large amounts of water was draining from the dam, he said that there was no immediate threat to crops as an inflow of around 50-60 TMC water was projected in the months of October and September. Earlier in the day, dam authorities denied that lack of maintenance had caused the incident late on Saturday. “This year all maintenance works like applying cardium compound & greasing to chain bearings & plumber blocks connected rods etc,. filling of oil to Radicon gear box arrangement unit and other accessories is completed in the month of May-2024. All gates were operated and checked for the operation of gates and confirmed the correctness of some gates.,” officials said in a press release.
