It will take another month to complete the desilting work on the Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) dam’s approach canal, which leads to Varuna canal, officials at the site said.
Only if the silt is removed from the canal will there be a free flow of water to the Right Bank Low Level (RBLL).
So far the workers have cleared the silt towards the Varuna canal which bifurcates from the RBLL canal near the dam and they still have to clear more than six meters length and 15 ft deep towards RBLL canal to allow the water to pass. With limited labourers and time, the work is going on at a snail’s pace and the desilting will continue for another month, an official overseeing the work said.
With the canal too narrow and deep, there is no possibility to remove the silt through excavator and it has to be done manually, an official said. Workers plea seeking officials to dump the already removed silt away from the canal has gone unheard. They say if it rain, the silt will once again slid to the canal.
Meagre Salary
Labourers alleged that they get a meagre daily wage of `100 which is not enough for the daily maintenance. “If we work outside, we get minimum `300 per day for each labourer. But here they pay only `100, but they in their records will show `500 per worker. We are bringing food and water along with us. They only provide tea which will not be good,” labourers said
There are around 35 labourers removing the silt for the past few days.
While some get salary, others get daily wages.
Temple Resurfaces
With the water level at KRS dam coming down to 64.57 ft on Friday, the Shiva temple at the Subramanyapura village, which submerged after the KRS dam built in 1932 has resurfaced.
The gopura of the temple can be seen from the bank of the river backwaters. In 2002, Venugopala Swamy temple resurfaced when the water level in the dam went low due to drought and later the temple was shifted to nearby village.
Ravi, from KRS, who swam inside the Shiva temple on Thursday afternoon told Express there are two shiva lingam and it has 20 ft high four pillars.
