Tungabhadra- Karnataka

The Tungabhadra River is a river in India that starts and flows through the state of Karnataka during most of its course, Andhra Pradesh and ultimately joining the Krishna River near Murvakonda in Andhra Pradesh

The river Tungabhadra derives its name from two streams viz., the Tunga, about 147 km (91.6 miles) long and the Bhadra, about 178 km (110.9 miles) long which rise in the Western Ghats. The river after the confluence of the two streams near Shimoga, runs for about 531 km (330 miles) till it joins the river Krishna at Sangamaleshwaram in Andhra Pradesh. It runs for 382 km (237 miles) in Karnataka, forms the boundary between Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh for 58 km (36 miles) and further runs for the next 91 km (57 miles) in Andhra Pradesh. The total catchment area of the river is 69,552 km2 (26,856 Sq miles) up to its confluence with Krishna and it is 28,177 km2 (10,880 Sq miles) up to Tungabhadra Dam. It is influenced chiefly by the South-West monsoon. It is a perennial river but the summer flows dwindle to as low as 2.83 to 1.42 cumec (100 to 50 cusec).

Recent dams
A dam was constructed about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) upstream from Shimoga at Gajanur across the River Tunga. Another dam was constructed at Lakkavalli about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) upstream of Bhadravati across the River Bhadra. They are multipurpose dams (multipurpose dams help in generation of electricity, irrigation of land, prevention and control of floods, etc.) and irrigate lands in Shimoga, Chikkamagalur, Davanagere and Haveri.

Tungabhadra Dam (TB Dam), also considered a multipurpose dam, is across the river Tungabhadra. The dam is near the town of Hosapete in Karnataka. Its storage capacity is 135 Tmcft. Owing to siltation, the capacity has come down by about 30 tmcft. If there are seasonal and late rains, an estimated 235 tmcft is released. It is filled when water is let into the canals during the rainy season. The main architect of the dam was Thirumalai Iyengar, an engineer from Madras. A general-purpose hall was named after him. It has become a picnic or tourist spot over the years. TB Dam is near the heritage site Hampi. One of the major problems and concerns associated with TB Dam is that it has been undergoing a lot of siltation. Because of silt deposition in the dam, the storage capacity of the dam is coming down. Another major problem associated with TB Dam is increased pollution, resulting in decreasing fish population. This is seriously affecting fishermen, who are solely dependent on the river for their livelihood.

The Sunkesula Barrage near Kurnool city, a long barrage dam, was constructed across the Tungabhadra River around 1860 by the British engineer, hailed as Bhagiratha for Rayalaseema, Sir Arthur Cotton. Originally, it was intended to be used for navigation during the British Raj. The barrage was reconstructed by Kotla Vijayabhaskara Reddy as Tungabhadra Barrage, to provide irrigation for Kadapa district. As road and rail transportation increased, it is now supplying water for Kurnool and Kadapa districts, through the K. C. Canal. It impounds about 15 billion cuft of water and irrigates about 300,000 acres (1,200 km2) amount of land in Kurnool and Kadapa districts.

Problems
Industrial pollution has damaged the Tungabhadra River. Industry and mining on its banks in the Chikkamagaluru, Shimoga, Davangere, Haveri, Vijayanagara, Bellary, Koppal and Raichur districts of Karnataka and in the Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh generate enormous amounts of effluents. Nearly 30 million liters of effluents are released into the Tunga from Shimoga each year.” This is the contribution of just one city which, unlike Bhadravathi and Hospet, cannot boast of being an industrial city. As a result of the effluents, Tungabhadra is one of the most polluted rivers in the country.

Downriver from the industries, the water has turned dark brown and has a pungent odor. Tungabhadra river’s pollution has affected 1 million people in the sub-basin as most villages use the river water for drinking, bathing, irrigating crops, fishing and livestock water, previously obtained through an ancient tank system. The livelihood of village fishermen has been harmed by regular fish kills that have exhausted Tungabhadra’s fisheries.