ALL WASHED UP Flood threat to Hampi’s monuments SHIVAKUMAR G. MALAGI | DC BELLARY, AUG. 6  2013   The overflowing waters damage the historic structures each year Several monuments of the erstwhile Vijayanagar empire, located on the banks of the Tungabhadra River are likely to be washed away by floods in the near future, owing to the chronic accumulation of silt and debris at Tungabhadra reservoir located near Hospet, 14km from Hampi.The storage capacity of the Tungabhadra dam reduced by 30 per cent due to the accumulation of debris . This year, owing to continuous heavy inflow into the reservoir, the dam soon reached its full capacity of 1,633 feet and was overflowing by the third week of July. This was wont to happen during the second week of August, when the crest gates were opened to release excess inflow into the river. Official sources at the reservoir say they are compelled to discharge water even after average spells of rain in the district, due to silt levels, which stand at about 30 tmc ft in the reservoir. The Purandara Mantapa is completely submerged again this year. The adjacent Rama and Lakshmana temple is also partially submerged. The bridge linking Kampli with Gangavathi was submerged for a few days, as were the temples and monuments in the fort area of Kampli, the erstwhile capital of preVijayanagar period King Gandugali Kumararama.Local residents say flood waters have affected the overall stability of the historic structures, the nature of the soil, caused cracks and changed the geographical features of the land on which the temples stand.The latter half of July saw an average inflow of about 1.2. lakh cusecs into the reservoir. The discharge was about 96,032 cusecs, through 28 of the dam’s crest gates. The dam has 33 crest gates in all. In addition to this, about 10,000 cusecs of water were being released through canals on either side of the reservoir. P.T. Parmeshwar Naik, Minister of State for Labour and district-incharge minister said that the storage capacity of the dam had come down by 30 per cent owing to accumulation of silt. A meeting convened recently by M.B. Patil, Minister for Major and Medium Irrigation, to discuss about removal of silt and construction of floodflow canal to recoup the legitimate share of the State going waste into the river, has appointed an expert committee to submit a detailed study within six months. “Steps will be taken based on the committee’s recommendations,” he said.