Rajasthan: Bisalpur dam breaches full capacity, two gates opened | Jaipur News

JAIPUR/AJMER: Two gates of Bisalpur dam were opened on Friday morning after the water level in the reservoir breached its full capacity of 315.50 RL/metre. This was the sixth time that the gates were being opened in the dam’s history. The last time the gates were opened was on August 20, 2019. The released water will be diverted to Tonk and Sawai Madhopur districts for irrigation.
Since Thursday, authorities were waiting for the water level to reach the full capacity to open the gates. “On Thursday, the water level was 315.38 RL/metre against the full capacity of 315.50 RL/meter. We had anticipated the dam to reach the full capacity mark by 8am on Friday. We then opened gate numbers 9 and 10 in the presence of Tonk district collector Chinmayee Gopal,” executive engineer Manish Bansal said.
“These gates will remain open for a day. We will review the situation on Saturday morning and decide on closing it,” Bansal added.
The dam has 18 gates. Officials said with the existing amount of water, the dam can supply water to three districts for 18 months. Prior to opening the gates, a siren was sounded to alert villagers living in low-lying areas. Bisalpur dam caters to the drinking water needs of Jaipur, Ajmer and Tonk districts.
The foundation stone for the dam was laid in 1985 and construction began in 1987. In 1999, it was completed and, in 2004, the dam was filled to capacity for the first time.