Tungabhadra Dam restored: All 33 crest gates replaced after 2024 failure

The Tungabhadra Dam near Hosapete in Karnataka has been fully restored after a major engineering crisis in August 2024. On the night of August 10, 2024, Crest Gate No. 19 of the dam snapped and was swept away, causing panic among lakhs of farmers in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana who depend on the reservoir for irrigation.

At the time of failure, the reservoir was at its Full Reservoir Level of 1,633 feet with 105.788 tmcft of water. About 35,000 cusecs of water gushed out uncontrollably through the broken bay within minutes. Engineers opened other gates to ease pressure on the structure and prevent a larger disaster downstream.

A rapid response team of hydro-mechanical experts and engineers from Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru, JSW Steel and local fabrication firms designed a temporary stop-log arrangement. The five-element steel stop-log was installed on August 17, 2024 — just seven days after the breach — preventing further loss of stored water.

Since the gates had served for nearly seven decades without major overhaul, a technical committee recommended replacing all 33 spillway gates. The Tungabhadra Board awarded the replacement work to an Ahmedabad-based firm. The dismantling of old gates and erection of new ones was completed in 123 days, between December 24, 2025 and April 25, 2026.

The project also covered the replacement of 68 lifting chains and 100 bevel gear units. Although tests showed the existing chains were still strong, the Karnataka government decided to replace them as a safety precaution. Third-party quality inspection agencies from Hyderabad monitored the works. Total cost of the work was about Rs 51 crore.

Trial runs of the new gates have been successful. Engineers say the renovation has improved structural safety and extended the dam's working life by another 50 years. The state government plans to formally dedicate the renewed dam to the nation at a public event involving farmers from the Koppal, Raichur and Ballari command areas.

For exam aspirants, the case shows how India handles emergency rehabilitation of large multi-purpose dams. The Tungabhadra is a joint project of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh on the Tungabhadra River — a tributary of the Krishna. It illustrates inter-State water-sharing arrangements, the role of Central technical bodies, and the importance of asset maintenance in old irrigation infrastructure built in the 1950s.