Replacement of Tungabhadra reservoir gates will be over by June 2026: D K Shivakumar

Bengaluru, Aug 21 (PTI) Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said on Thursday that the work for replacing all the gates of the Tungabhadra reservoir has already begun and will be completed by June 2026.

Taking to social media X, the Dy CM said once the new gates are installed, the reservoir will be able to store water at its full capacity.

"This will provide adequate water to millions of farmers and meet their drinking water needs. Our commitment is to protect water resources and the interests of farmers," he said.

On August 20, he had also told the Legislative Assembly that the manufacturing of crest gates for the Tungabhadra dam was going on.

"Tungabhadra Dam Board has issued the tender for making 33 crest gates to an Ahmedabad-based company. Work on six crest gates is going on right now at Gadag and Hosapete. The fabrication work is already complete. We have instructed the engineers to speed up the process. We have asked them to delegate some of the work to others for quicker completion," he informed the Assembly.

According to him, Karnataka can only store 80 TMC of water this year due to safety reasons.

"As per the recommendations of Kannaiah Naidu, we can store only 76 per cent or 80 TMC of water in the dam. The Dam Board has decided to abide by that recommendation," he informed.

He also said Karnataka will not release water for the second crop.

"Crest gate installation won't be possible if we give water for the second crop. Our farmers are worried about their crops and I spoke to dam officials about it. They asked if the dam safety was more important or the second crop," he told the Legislative Assembly. PTI JR KSU ADB