A sub-committee has been constituted to study and report on the removal of silt from the Tungabhadra reservoir, with its inaugural meeting held at the Tungabhadra Board office in Hospet on Thursday. The committee was formed following instructions from the Central Water Commission to investigate silt management practices in reservoirs across the country.
Srinivasu Bairy, Secretary of the Tungabhadra Board, presides over the sub-committee. Its members include K. Ramesh, Chief Engineer from Ongole, representing Andhra Pradesh; S.H. Manjappa, a retired Chief Engineer representing Karnataka; and Mohammed Rahimuddin, Chief Engineer from Wanaparthy, representing Telangana. S. Narayana Naik, Executive Engineer of the Tungabhadra Board, serves as the coordinator and member-secretary. Board sources indicated that no specific deadline has been set for the sub-committee to submit its report.
The formation of the committee follows a discussion on the silt issue held on June 25, when the Chief Ministers of the three states and the Union Minister of Water Resources attended the inauguration of the new crest gates at the Tungabhadra Dam. This meeting was preceded by a session with the Central Water Commission in Delhi. Also present at the Hospet meeting were Executive Engineers Manoj Kumar Gadaballi, N. Chandrashekar, and Nagaraj Rao; Assistant Executive Engineers Dharmaraj, V. Gopi, and Vishwanath; and Section Officers Kiran and Huliraj.