5/5 Prashanth U m. 4 years ago on Google
The
Tungabhadra
Dam
also
known
as
Pampa
Sagar
is
constructed
across
the
Tungabhadra
River,
a
tributary
of
the
Krishna
River.
The
dam
is
in
Hosapete,
Ballari
district
of
Karnataka.
It
is
a
multipurpose
dam
serving
irrigation,
electricity
generation,
flood
control,
etc.
This
is
a
joint
project
of
erstwhile
Hyderabad
state
and
erstwhile
Madras
Presidency
when
the
construction
was
started;
later
it
became
a
joint
project
of
Karnataka
and
Andhra
Pradesh
after
its
completion
in
1953.
The
main
architect
of
the
dam
was
Vepa
Krishnamurthy,
ISE,
Engineer-in-Chief,
Hyderabad
State,
after
Police
Action,
an
engineer
from
Madras
PWD.
There
is
a
dispute
between
Andhra
Pradesh,Telangana
and
Karnataka
for
the
water
of
Tungabhadra
reservoir.
He
argued
for
the
stability
and
longevity
of
the
Dam,
built
of
Surki
Mortar
viz
a
combination
of
mud
and
limestone.
It's
the
only
non-cement
and
concrete
dam
in
the
country
and
has
withstood
the
test
of
time
for
over
70
years,
and
may
well
cross
many
more
decades.
He
envisioned
it
as
being
built
with
a
large
contingent
of
manual
labour,
as
best
suited
to
Indian
labouravailabilty
and
employment.
The
main
contractor
for
the
dam
was
Venkat
Reddy
Mulamalla,
from
Konour
village,
Mahabubnagar,
Hyderabad
state.
The
famine
region
of
Rayalseema,
comprising
the
districts
of
Bellary,
Anantapur,
Kurnool
and
Cuddapah
attracted
the
attention
of
the
British
Engineers
as
early
as
1860.
To
relieve
the
intensity
of
famine
in
these
districts,
proposals
were
made
in
1860
to
utilize
the
waters
of
Tungabhadra
through
a
storage
reservoir
and
a
system
of
canals
to
provide
irrigation
for
the
lands.
Sir
Arthur
Cotton
originally
conceived
the
Tungabhadra
Project
in
the
year
1860.
The
proposals
were
further
modified
and
developed
subsequently
evolving
it
into
a
joint
scheme
with
Hyderabad.
N.
Paramseswaran
Pillai
accordingly
revised
the
Scheme
in
1933.
Several
agreements
were
concluded
in
the
past
for
harvesting
and
imposing
certain
restrictions
on
utilizing
the
Tungabhadra
waters.
Protracted
negotiations
and
investigations
lasted
for
about
eighty
years.
The
Government
of
Madras
in
1940
ordered
for
the
detailed
investigation
of
the
scheme.
Based
on
the
agreements
concluded
and
examination
of
a
number
of
alternatives
by
L.
Venkata
Krishna
Iyer,
the
then
Superintending
Engineer,
Bellary,
and
F.
M.
Dowley,
Chief
Engineer,
Irrigation,
further
detailed
investigations
of
the
project
was
done
by
M.
S.
Thirumale
Iyengar
on
the
Madras
side
in
the
year
1942.
The
Agreement
between
Madras
and
Hyderabad
of
June
1944
enabled
the
Madras
and
Hyderabad
Governments
finally
to
start
the
construction
of
the
Tungabhadra
project.
The
Tungabhadra
Project
was
formally
inaugurated
by
laying
foundation
stone
on
28th
February,
1945
by
"Prince
of
Berar"
on
the
left
side
and
by
Sir
Arthur
Hope,
Governor
of
Madras
on
right
side.
However,
much
headway
could
not
be
made
up
to
January
1949.
Difference
of
opinion
in
certain
technical
matters
and
settled
political
situation
in
Hyderabad
were
the
reasons
for
the
slow
progress.
The
Madras
and
the
Hyderabad
engineers
were
sharply
divided
on:
Nature
of
mortar
to
be
used
in
the
construction
of
the
dam
Design
of
spillway
Design
of
over
flow
and
non-overflow
sections
of
the
dam
and
Contraction
joints
These
differences
were
referred
to
a
Board
of
Engineers
under
the
Chairmanship
of
M.
Visveswaraya,
a
Statesman-cum-Engineer.
Dam
construction
Excavation
in
the
riverbed
was
started
in
1947
and
masonry
construction
on
15
April
1949.
With
help
of
a
cofferdam
constructed
earlier,
foundation
excavation
was
continued
during
flood
season
also.
The
river
bed
portion
was
tackled
during
the
summer
of
1950
(1949–50).
Masonry
in
the
riverbed
blocks
was
started
in
the
year
1951.
Thereafter
there
was
vigorous
progress
in
works.
By
October
1953
the
structures
were
completed
substantially
enabling
the
storage
of
water
in
the
reservoir
up
to
+1613.00
ft.
Acquisition
of
lands
and
villages
and
rehabilitation
of
persons
displaced
from
the
water
spread
area
up
to
1630
ft
contour
were
completed
by
September,
1953
in
all
respects.
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