Daily News Analysis ‘Tungabhadra River & Dam’ : 18 May

Why in News:

• Engineers successfully replaced all 33 crest spillway gates of the Tungabhadra Dam following a catastrophic chain-link failure that triggered downstream flood panic across multiple southern states.

About river

• River Origin & Course: Formed by the confluence of the Tunga and Bhadra rivers at Koodli (Shivamogga, Karnataka) originating in the Western Ghats; it flows northeast to join the Krishna River as its chief tributary at Sangamaleshwaram (Andhra Pradesh).
• Geographical Importance: It sustains the perennially semi-arid regions of North Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana, and its meeting point with the Krishna River delineates the boundaries of the historically and economically vital Raichur Doab.
• Major Tributaries: It receives the Varada and Kumudvati rivers on its left bank, and the Vedavathi (Hagari) and Handri rivers on its right bank.
• Historical Connectivity: The river banks flank the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Hampi, the medieval core and capital landscape of the historic Vijayanagara Empire.
• The Dam Infrastructure: Constructed near Hosapete (Karnataka) in 1953, it is an iconic multipurpose masonry reservoir built uniquely using a traditional mud-and-limestone mortar matrix rather than concrete.