Bhubaneswar/Sambalpur Dec. 7: A robotic doctor is on the job to assess the health of the 58-year-old multi-purpose Hirakud dam over the Mahanadi.

The robot, which is a remotely-operated vehicle, today entered the deep waters of the dam and is expected to present a report on the state of wear and tear of the dam that was commissioned in 1956.

A three-member team of the Central Soil and Material Research Station, which is under the ministry of water resources, will monitor the vehicle that is being used for the first time in the state.

The team consists of divisional head of the engineering geo-physics department Alex Verghese and scientists Virendra Pratap and Shiv Charan.

Executive engineer of the Hirakud dam project, the only one of its kind in the state, Joshobanta Parida said: "The robotic vehicle will videograph the upstream face of the dam and also take photographs of the cracks that has developed over the years."

"The team will take at least a month's time to scan the cracks on the upstream face of the dam," said Parida.

He said that the photographs taken in deep water would help the dam authorities ascertain the condition of the cracks that had been worrying the authorities.

Cracks were first noticed in the concrete portion of the spillway of the dam in the '90s. The Hirakud dam cracks review panel and dam safety review panel had then suggested ways of plugging the gaps. Divers were sent inside the dam to plug the holes, but the finer cracks remained.

The three-member team is tasked with assessing the present condition of the cracks, which were repaired in the '90s. They will also suggest ways to repair the finer cracks that had remained untreated.

"The team will submit a report to the water resources department and the Hirakud dam authority," said Parida, adding that the state government has earmarked Rs 27 lakh for the project.

The World Bank has committed Rs 350 crore towards strengthening the embankments of the dam, which have suffered a few damages over the decades.

"We will put the money to use after preparing a detailed report on the subject," said an official of the water resources department.

A part of this amount will also be used for the construction of an additional spillway on the dam. The dam has two spillways and 98 gates.

"The additional spillway will help release excess water from the dam. The Hirakud dam has the capacity to release and handle 15 lakh cusec of water. But if the catchment area receives more water during the rainy season, it struggles to release the excess water that makes construction of an additional spillway necessary," said a senior official of the water resources department.

In 2014, seepages were detected at the Hirakud hydroelectric project at Burla. The project is part of the dam, which happens to be one of the biggest earthen dams in the country and controls floods in the Mahanadi delta, apart from irrigating large tracts of land and generating hydel power.

The damage to the dam was first reported in The Telegraph on May 29 last year, prompting the government to constitute an inquiry.