Reconstruction of accidental Indravati project.
By Nanda Mohapatra, Chief Engineer ( rtd)
The previous article has described how Odisha’s largest river valley project has been pushed to an uncertain situation due to Indravati Tunnel accident. Man-made bribery has been involved. Any death in the accident is definitely a worrying event. Horrible, anyone will point fingers. | The reaction that was created in Bhabanipatana, maybe we the people of Kalahandi would have reacted like that at that time. Engineers take some risks at the same time to speed up the work. The Indravati accident happened with the intention of carrying out such a work because there was a Kfar dam which was rain. The water would have been carried towards the Indravati river. But when in the form of coral of nature, it was beyond imagination that it would rain so much in a short period of time, this tragic incident happened.
By collecting the stones that are being thrown from different places of Odisha, we pledged to rebuild it under the inspiration of our leadership Late Ramesh Rath. The Indravati project was an amalgamation of both experienced and young engineers. An integrated project of Civil, Mechanical and Electrical engineers. | It strengthened our hearts when we came to know that the first Bindhani who is building the project like her own child, the beloved of all, late Damodar Sahu, had come from Bhubaneswar to see the bad condition of the project and died in heart attack after seeing the dire condition. Then our enthusiasm was increased by the dedicated late Sarat. Report of the advice given by Chandra Mohanty and late Naresh Chandra Rout to the firm and correct government.
Withdrawal from the financial support of the World Bank project. Departure from all the projects of big contractors and the trust of Odisha government on us. The decision of the government to assign workload on the country engineer, our country corporation OCC created a military force.
The report of Non Destructive Test by the biggest quality determining institutions of the country spreads hope.
A new team came from OCC to work in the field Mr. Ramesh Chandra Tripathi, Mr. Santosh Ghosh, Mr. Tapan Patnaik and Mr. Hari Krishna Acharya of Mechanical and his colleagues Mr. Ashok Ray, Mr. Sadananda Padhi, Mr. MVS Murthy and Acharya Sena. Renowned Electrical Engineer Mr. Abani Mishra and his army party.
On behalf of the project, Mr. Naba Mohapatra, Mr. Sushil Acharya, Late Mr. Man Mohan Patnaik, Mr. Nirmal Malik, Mr. K B. Mohapatra etc. Superintendent and Executive Engineer and many young Assistant Engineer and Junior Engineer and the wonderful team of helping assistants and countless workers in the offices. Kurukshetra came together to win. The headquarter of the project was Panchajanya at Khatiguda, Devdatta at Mukhiguda, Pounder at Mahulpatana, Ananta Vijay at Muran, and the water reservoir area, Ran Dundivi was declared a Mahabharata festival by Sughosh and Manipushpak conchs. The project has four dams, eight dikes, two links. Channel, tunnel, surge shaft, valve house and power house tail race, barrage and canal everywhere work went on.
The biggest challenge was the hill of the wounded Penstock slope. Power house just below, valve house at 330m high, 8 anchor blocks on the hill slope. All broken out. 4 3.5 diameter and various thickness plates from 16mm to 36mm We have to penstock by rotating the bending machine. But we have Arjun of Pandav Mr. Hari Krishna Acharya. Hydraulic test and stress for every ferul. Reliving. Dedicated engineers to test Expansion Joint and every welding. Using DYWIDAG cable imported from Germany to hold it from very low to build anchor block. Mr. Ramesh Chandra Tripathi, Bhim of Pandav was there to complete the work of installing around 50 meters of cable inside the underground stone. Accepting a lot of hard work, due to the hard work of OCC engineers, within a few months, Penstock has been seen beautifully in all 4 rows. All holes are in concrete. Looking beautiful from afar after being admitted.
The main frame of the power house has already received the health certificate. Under the leadership of Mr. Sushil Acharya and the hard work of Mr. Jay Gopal Jena, Mr. Avinash Raul, Assistant Engineer, the power house is standing day and night. Under the guidance of late Man Mohan Patnaik, the head race tunnel, surge shaft will be completed. They are working hard for today.
Parallel 9 km long tailrace work is progressing by Mr. Khetrabasi Mahapatra. Work is progressing at rapid pace to irrigate the barrage and left side canal of Dharmagarh block and right side canal Junagarh block.
Parallel electrical engineer for electricity generation, who had the experience of building Balimela and Kolab power plant under the leadership of experienced engineers was of Mr. Abani Mishra. With sincere efforts, the construction of high energy lines for Turbine and Generator, Protection Control, EOT Crane, Transformer, Switch Yard, Power evacuation is fast. Goes on in motion.
Because the one who is there to win the battle of Kurukshetra!!!
There is also a war room at the OCC headquarters in Bhubaneswar. The work of the gate and hoist which is made by Tungbhadra Steel Products is half finished and the construction has not started. The design is all running on war basis. My teacher Mr. Purna Mohapatra and I at the gate and. Drawing of the highest sub by Mr. Abhay Patnaik and getting approval from Mr. Ramesh Tripathi. Day and night work. My blood pressure increased. Not only mine but everyone’s. But I can’t say happiness because participating in such a challenging task gives motivation. There is. The work of constructing the central workshop of OCC day and night, sending and erection to various places of Indravati project is no less than a battle.
Out of four 150MW units of the power plant, the first two units were commissioned in September and December, 1999. The third unit was commissioned in October, 2000 and the fourth unit was commissioned on April 2001. Irrigated farming started in Kalahandi district from 1999. Within a few years, Kalahandi of Odisha. The second rice pot is done. The impression of hunger affected people is erased from the head of Kalahandi. The change of Kalahandi and present Kalahandi and the smile on the face of the farmers is what made all the engineers, all the helpers and all the laborers working in the project blessed.
The dream of bringing together four rivers to create such a huge reservoir and taking Mahanadi Abahika with the water flowing to Godabari river has been fulfilled. Our contribution in 600 MW green hydroelectric power and more than 1,00,000 hectares irrigated agriculture was great. All Lanchana has gone down the course of history. The re-shaping of the project gave everyone a lot of happiness which is impossible to describe in language. It can only be felt.
I express my gratitude to God on behalf of everyone for making the project which seemed impossible possible after the tunnel accident. The Indravati project is dedicated to the purpose of the race. Many engineers have abandoned Ihdham and the remaining few are lower Barada or middle Barada. My writing is dedicated to the youth in Upper Barada. Hope my hard work paid off if motivated.
Salute Odisha
