BANGALORE: Situated 400 km from Bangalore and part of the Karnataka Power Corporation Limited’s Sharavati Valley Project, the Talakalale dam is similar in construction to the Mullaperiyar dam, according to Dr Ashwatha Narayana, Former MD, Karnataka Power Corporation Limited.“There are similarities in its length as well and in 1989 the Talakalale dam was declared unsafe as it was leaking 9.5 cusecs of water every second,” said Dr Narayana.Discussing efforts made by KPCL to save the dam, he explained that KPCL decided to go ahead with rehabilitation in spite of opposing advice received from the World Bank.“Building a new dam would have cost 100 crore back then, we decided to go in for deep pointing and saved the dam in 3 years with a cost of just 6 crore,” he said.Deep Pointing involves divers injecting cement mixed with CICO3 carbonate into 9,000 sq m of the upstream dam area. This process was followed up by Cement Grouting which led to reduction of seepage to almost 0.5 cusecs today.“We never had to deplete the dam or stop generating power, that is the beauty of underwater work, dams are marvels of civil engineering and are very useful, but improper maintenance can turn them into nightmares,” he observed. He stated that the Mullaperiyar dam must also be rehabilitated instead of considering the option of building another dam.Dr Narayana is a knowledge adviser for Enzen Global Solutions which provides Consulting and Business Services in sectors like energy, water, gas and environment.“There are 4,700 dams in India and 116 of them are more than a 100 years old; we will be able to offer our expertise in underwater study and robotic observation below silt level to any agency who wants our services,” said Easwar Parameswaran, Senior General Manager, Enzen.
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