Work on spillway of Hirakud dam to begin by October-end: Rout

The work on the additional spillway at the left dyke of the Hirakud dam is likely to begin by the end of October this year, an official said Sunday.

Tata Projects limited and AGE Group of Turkey will jointly execute the work, Executive Engineer of the project Basant Rout said.

"The forest and environment clearance for the project has already been availed. However, the work on the project could be started after the monsoon only. We are hopeful that the initial work of the project will begin by October-end," Rout said.

The additional spillway, which is a World Bank funded project, has been proposed to enhance the flood water discharge capacity of the Hirakud Dam. The Central Water Commission (CWC) has recommended enhancing the flood water discharge capacity of the dam, he said.

The length of the proposed spillway dam would be 91 metre with five sluice gates. Similarly, 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 Hirakud Dam reservoir and meet the river Mahanadi near the Jawahar Uddyan. "The estimated budget of the project is Rs 369.53 crore," said Rout.

Currently, there are 98 gates to release the flood water from the Hirakud dam. Of them, 64 are sluice gates and 34 are crest gates. Around 15 lakh cusec water is released through the 98 gates at a time now.

However, with the construction of the proposed additional spillway, the water discharge capacity of the Hirakud Dam will increase to 18 lakh cusec, he said.