The additional spillway work at the left dyke of the Hirakud Dam on the Mahanadi river would begin from October 24, an official source said.
The project would be jointly carried out by the Tata Projects Limited and the AGE Group of Turkey.
Knowledgeable source said experts from the IITs and outside country have reviewed the condition of the Hirakud Dam. The dam authorities had earlier proposed for 15 drills. However, the experts have proposed for making another 15 drills.
The geological survey work has also been completed. While the officials of both the companies are staying in camps in the dam premises, the officials from other countries are also monitoring the project, informed Hirakud Dam Chief Engineer Jyotirmaya Rath.
Notably, the additional spillway is a World Bank-funded project. It has been proposed to enhance the flood water discharge capacity of the dam. The length of the spillway will be 91 metre with five sluice gates and the width of the spillway channel will be 300 metre.
The proposed spillway channel will originate from near the Gandhi Minar on the left dyke of the dam reservoir and meet the Mahanadi near the Jawahar Udyan. The estimated budget of the project is Rs 369.53 crore.
Currently, there are 98 gates to release around 15 lakh cusecs of floodwater from the dam, out of which, 64 are sluice gates and 34 are crest gates.
With the construction of the proposed additional spillway, the water discharge capacity of the dam will increase to 18 lakh cusecs.