Why in news? The Krishna Bhagya Jala Nigam Limited (KBJNL) has invited tenders for offering technical expertise to install 26 additional gates in quick time to the reservoir built across River Krishna.

Highlights:

• Iron gates that were meant for a dam height of 524.256 metres had been procured and were also installed in 2000.
• Subsequently, the height of the Lal Bahadur Shastri reservoir was restricted to 6 metres as per the order of the Supreme Court.
• Karnataka had been permitted to increase the height of the reservoir to 524.256 metres as per the award of the Krishna Water Dispute Tribunal-2.
• In 2014, a team led by Dr Kannayya Naidu, an expert in reservoir gate technology, had conducted a detailed study on various needs and timeframe can these gates be installed.
• The new technical expertise is expected to advise KBJNL on undertaking the task faster and also look that the gates kept as standby will function as effectively and safely as the ones already in place.
• The experts will also scrutinise the report of Naidu’s team.

About Almatti dam

• The Lal Bahadur Shastri Dam is also known as Almatti Dam is a hydroelectric project on the Krishna River
• Official name: Upper Krishna-I (Almatti)
• Location: Almatti, Nidgundi, Bijapur district, Karnataka
• The dam is located on the edge of Bijapur and Bagalkot districts.
• Operator: Karnataka Power Corporation Limited
• Target annual electric output : 560 MU
• It is the main reservoir of the Upper Krishna Irrigation Project
• Water is released in to the Narayanpur reservoir after using for power generation to serve the downstream irrigation needs.
• The backwaters of the dam host several migratory birds during summer.
• Major beneficiary : Kalaburagi district

Increasing the height

• The full reservoir level of Almatti dam was originally restricted to 160 meters by the supreme court of India.
• The Krishna River conflict between Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Maharashtra was resolved by the Brijesh Kumar Tribunal and the dam was authorized to be raised to the height of 524 meters MSL with nearly 200 TMC gross storage capacity.

About Upper Krishna project

• It is an irrigation project across the Krishna River to provide irrigation to the drought-prone areas of Vijayapura district, Karnataka
• District covered: Bagalkot, Kalburgi, Yadgir and Raichur districts in the state of Karnataka in south India.
• Foundation stone : Late Prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri
• Water allocated to the state of Karnataka by the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal, headed by R. S. Bachawat Tribunal

Various stages of UKP

• UKP-Stage I:

1. Water and irrigation land on the left bank of the Krishna River.
2. It involves construction of Almatti Dam and Narayanpur Dam along with several other canals.

• UKP-Stage II:

1. It involves irrigation on the right bank of the river by the flow and also by lifting the waters to higher levels on both left and right banks.
2. The project mainly involved construction of channels.
3. This project also includes construction of Hipparagi barrage

• UKP-Stage III:

1. Consists of increasing the full reservoir water level of Alamatti Dam to 524 metres.
2. Involve lift irrigation schemes at Mulwad, Chimmalagi, and Indi and extension of the Narayanapura Right Bank Canal and Bhima diversion plan
3. Involve the extension of lift irrigation schemes at Rampur, Mallabad, Koppal and Herakal