Centre to roll out major desilting plan for dams across India: Jal Shakti Minister

Union Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Patil said the Union Government is preparing a major plan to remove silt from reservoirs across India, noting that excessive silt accummulation had significantly reduced the storage capacity of many dams, including the Tungabhadra reservoir.

Speaking at a public function organised at Munirabad in Koppal district of Karnataka as part of the inauguration of the newly-installed spillway gates of the Tungabhadra reservoir near Hosapete in neighbouring Vijayanagara district on June 25, Mr. Patil said a large number of dams in the country had lost more than 15% of their storage capacity because of silt accumulation.

He said that the Tungabhadra reservoir had accumulated around 15% silt, affecting its effective storage capacity.

To address the issue, the Union Jal Shakti Ministry is working on a special desilting programme for reservoirs, under which the Centre would provide technical support while the responsibility of implementation would rest with the respective State governments.

“If the proposed plan is successfully implemented at Tungabhadra, the reservoir’s water storage capacity could potentially increase by 25% to 30%. Dredging reservoirs is an important step not only for improving water availability, but also for strengthening irrigation security in command areas dependent on ageing reservoirs,” he said.

The Union Minister praised the coming together of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana on a common platform, saying the participation of the three Chief Ministers in the Tungabhadra event reflected a spirit of cooperation over a shared water resource.

“Despite past differences over water-sharing issues, the three States had worked together in a constructive manner, which had helped in the quick replacement of the spillway gates at Tungabhadra,” he said.

Linking the issue to broader national water planning, Mr. Patil said the country was being connected not only through roads and highways but also through water infrastructure, and coordinated river management. “Greater water availability would enable farmers to take up two crops instead of one in a year, thereby helping improve farm incomes,” he said.

The public meeting was organised by the government of Karnataka, the Water Resources Department, and the Tungabhadra Board. The event was attended by Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, among others.