The leakage in its powerhouse gallery would pose no threat to the Hirakud Dam, members of the National Committee on Dam Safety (NCDS) told reporters here on Tuesday.
The four-member NCDS team comprising NCDS Chairman AD Mohile and member Suresh Chandra and Odisha Dam Safety Chief Engineer PK Mohanty and Deputy Director AK Das said this after their inspection of the leakage and the main dam earlier in the day. The team members were of the view that such leakages are quite common in all existing dams in the country.
“Though the amount of leakage in the powerhouse gallery of the Hirakud Dam is higher compared to other dams, it will pose no threat to the main dam. However, efforts are on to find out the cause of the leakage,” Mohile said.
Among others, Chief Engineer (Mahanadi Upper Basin) Biswajeet Mohanty, Superintending Engineer (Hirakud Dam Area) RK Panda, Superintending Engineer (Main Dam) Yashobant Parida and Ramani Ranjan Sharma accompanied the NCDS team.
Sources said the team, after its arrival in Bhubaneswar would have a meeting with a three-member expert team of the State consisting of retired Chief Engineer (Dam Safety) Sudhakar Patri, retired Engineer-in-Chief (Water Resources) Ramesh Tripathy and retired Chief Engineer Ramesh Rath who had visited the dam on June 4 to study the leakage.
“After analysing the report of the three-member team, we will submit a final report to the State River Dam Safety department within five days,” Mohile informed.