Sambalpur: Work for the construction of an additional spillway at the Hirakud Dam in Odisha will commence soon, enhancing the floodwater discharge capacity of the reservoir, officials said.
A nine-member team comprising experts from the World Bank and Central Water Commission (CWC) visited the proposed site for construction at the left dyke of the Hirakud Dam, and the rehabilitation colony Saturday.
The team also inspected the right dyke of the dam, power channel, its gates, and reviewed documents regarding additional spillway projects, they said.
Chief Engineer of Upper Mahanadi Basin, Sushil Kumar Behera said the tender for the additional spillway work will be floated soon after getting the administrative approval from the government.
“We have already submitted the documents to the government and are waiting for the nod,” he said.
“If needed, the expert team will again visit the site for any further investigation,” Behera said.
The project will entail a cost of around Rs 884 crore.
The length of the proposed additional spillway dam will be 91 meters with five sluice gates. The new spillway channel will originate from near the Gandhi Minar on the left dyke of the reservoir and meet river Mahanadi near the Jawahar Udyan, sources said.
The CWC had recommended enhancing the flood water discharge capacity of the dam, following which an additional spillway was proposed.
Factors including meteorological change, climate change and probable maximum flooding were looked into while the project was proposed, they said.
At present, the dam has 98 gates, including 64 sluice gates and 34 crest gates, to release flood water.
After the construction of the additional spillway, the dam will be able to handle up to 25 lakh cusecs of water from 15 lakh cusecs in case of incessant rain and flash floods, the sources said.
Earlier in 2019, two private companies were entrusted to carry out the construction work of the additional spillway. However, in February 2020, the firms backed out of the project, citing delay by the government in handing over the site for the construction work.
PTI
