Thumbalahalli dam not maintained properly, Dharmapuri farmers allege

DHARMAPURI: Apart from being happy as Thumbalahalli dam reached its maximum capacity on Wednesday night, farmers from Karimangalam are also concerned as they allege that they found some cracks in the dam structure. They alleged that the dam is not maintained properly as it has not received water for the past few years.

Thumbalahalli dam was constructed in 1968 at Karimangalam and stores water from rain drained from Palacode taluk and excess water from Chinnar dam. The dam has a maximum height of 14.52 ft and a storage capacity of 131 MCFT.  Over the past few weeks, the increase in rainfalls in Palacode and discharge from Chinnar dam resulted in Thumbalahalli dam receiving a steady inflow of 134 cusecs. On Wednesday, water levels reached over 10 ft and PWD officials stated that the dam reached its maximum capacity after 17 years.

S Venkateshan, a resident of Karimangalam said, “We are greatly delighted by the recent inflow of rainfall to the dam. The dam is responsible for the irrigation of over 2,700 acres of cultivation area around its vicinity. Unlike other dams which receive water from rivers, this dam stores only rainwater. In the past decade, rains have been poor and so the dam has been dry. Watching this dam reach maximum capacity will be a blessing.”

R Sridharan, another resident, said, “Recently we visited the Thumbalahalli dam and found that the retaining walls and other structures constructed on the dam were severely damaged. Because of the lack of water for many years, the dam was not maintained properly due to which, the dam is in such a condition. We urge the PWD (WRO) department to renovate the dam.”

Officials in the PWD (WRO) department said, “The retaining wall constructed at the top to prevent people from accidentally falling is slightly damaged. We have been regularly and carefully monitoring the dam and the dam’s condition is good. Further, we advise people to stay away from the water bodies.”

The dam reached it maximum capacity ahead of the predicted time on Wednesday night  and water will be released to four lakes up to Krishnapuram.