Sambalpur: The proposed extra spillway on the left dyke of Hirakud dam will be constructed by Tata Infra Project Limited (TIPL), a Tata group company. Only two companies, TIPL and Gammon India had participated in the bid.
Hirakud dam circle executive engineer Saroj Panda said TIPL qualified as the lowest bidder by quoting Rs 360 crores to undertake construction of spillways, gate and electrical works of the project.
He said TIPL quoted Rs 17 crores less than the estimated project cost Rs 377 crores fixed by the government. The tenders were opened by a high level committee headed by the engineer-in-chief of the water resources department.
He said there are three more levels, the state government, central water commission (CWC) and the World Bank, to approve the tender before the work order is issued to TIPL. It may take three months to get the final approval, sources said, adding the project will be completed within 30 months.
Sources further said that the World Bank approved a loan of Rs 400 crore for construction of the extra spillway in Hirakud dam. The dam has 64 sluice gates and 34 crest gates to discharge water.
The CWC sought construction of an extra spillway as it found that going forward it may not be able to control the water level in Hirakud dam in coming days.
The existing system can deliver maximum of 16 lakh cusecs water and it may require a discharge of about 24 lakh cusecs of water in future. PNN
