The Hirakud dam in Sambalpur

Sambalpur, June 4: Members of a dam safety expert committee today visited the Hirakud hydroelectric project at Burla to inspect the seepage in the Hirakud dam.

The team, which arrived here yesterday, came for inspection after a report on water seepage in the inspection gallery at EL-470 of power dam was submitted to the principal secretary of the energy department.

The chief engineer (projects)-cum-chief electrical inspector (generation) had submitted the report.

The Telegraph published a report on the issue on May 29. Sources said: “During annual inspection of the Hirakud hydroelectric project, profuse seepage was observed in the inspection gallery at EL-470 of the power dam from upstream of the Hirakud reservoir at Burla. Following the observation, a report was submitted to the principal secretary of the energy department for necessary action.”

The report also mentioned that the additional pumping arrangement was not enough to clear the leakage of water, which stands at a height of six inches on the floor.

It also mentioned that a lot of water potential was being wasted, which could have been used for power generation.

The expert team, which visited the Hirakud hydroelectric project, included retired engineer-in-chief Ramesh Rath, retired engineer-in-chief Ramesh Tripathy, chief engineer of dam safety Prasanna Mohanty, dam safety expert Sudhakar Patri and Lingaraj Gauda. The team visited power house and gallery of the Hirakud dam to inspect the seepage. “A report on the leakage in the power house was submitted a few days ago. We had come here to inspect the leakage,” said panel member Tripathy.

“There is leakage in 470 label foundation gallery. We will submit a report to the water resources department on what possible measures can be taken to repair the leakage within two to three days. The leakage is repairable,” he said. Tripathy also said the leakage did not pose any danger to the dam.

“We visited the power house, the gallery and other places of the dam to inspect the leakage. The leakage can be treated,” said another panel member Mohanty. On the leakage’s effect on power generation, Mohanty said he could not comment on it. However, he said the leakage was a normal process. “There is no threat due to the leakage,” said Mohanty. He also said a dam safety review panel would visit the place on June 15.