Two “abandoned” reservoirs

2nd September 2011

KPCL (Karnataka Power Corporation Limited) had built these two dams for the purpose of generating electricity. For some reason, the project flopped and KPCL “abandoned” these twin reservoirs. KPCL had also built township for the employees of the power project. Since the project was stopped, KPCL moved its employees to another location. The water from the dam is now released to Sharavathi River. During my recent visit to native place, I decided to visit these reservoirs with my cousins.


A deviation from the state highway took us to the KPCL Township. At one point of time it was a busting township of KPCL. Not anymore. It now looks like a ghost town with dilapidated houses, empty streets with strange silence.

 
The meandering road passes through the dense forests after the ghost town. Not a soul to be found on the street. At many places the road is fully covered by fallen leaves indicating the absence of people on this road for past few days.

 

We then reach the site of the first dam. The security house is abandoned and no one is there to stop or enquire us. As we reached the dam we were struck with its sheer size and beauty of the nature surrounding it. Built between two huge hills, the reservoir was a scene to watch. At one side was the backwaters and other side was a steep drop to the base of the dam. Other the “sounds of nature” nothing could be heard. The place was completely deserted and scary.


Parking the car, we decided to go to the other side of the dam. The heavy winds accompanied with rains made this task difficult. The umbrellas we had were totally useless and it looked like the wind would blow us out. The other side of the falls contains the outlet. The water flows into a tunnel and then gushes out of the dam through a narrow and deep passage. The passage looked very deep and scary. We spent some time enjoying the silence and beauty of the nature.


We came back to the ghost town and took the road to the other falls. This road was similar to the first one with no people and complete silence. As we neared the dam, the area was covered by mist reducing the visibility. Like the previous dam, this was also surrounded by forests and hills. The entire area shrouded in mystery!! We went up and down the dam without any disturbance. We were the only people present in the area.

 
A garden is built next to an island in the dam. The water level was low and hence we could easily get into the island. There were semblance of a park present long back but all that was now present were some concrete blocks. A road also goes to a hill on top of the dam that provides complete view of the dam.


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