Markonahalli Dam, Tumkur | Must Visit When Visiting Yadiur

Markonahalli dam is built across the river shimsha, Shimsha river the one which flows in Karnataka, one of the tributes of river Kaveri.

This river is one of the major river in south india. River originates in Tiptur taluk, Tumkur district, flows for about 221 km before joining river kaveri.

Markonahalli Dam

Markonahalli Dam is built across the river shimsha in kunigal taluk, of Tumkur district Karnataka. It was built by Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV, the king of Mysore under the guidance of his Diwan, Sir M Visweswaraiah.  It was built to irrigate 6070 hectares of land and has a masonry structure of 139 m and a pair of earth dams extending to 1470 meters on either side.

The reservoir has a catchment area of 4,103 km² (1,584 sq mi) and can hold a volume of 68 million m³ of water at a full reservoir level of 731.57 m above the mean sea level.

27 species of fish, including 13 species of commercial fishes have been recorded in the reservoir with Puntius being the dominant species of fish found here. Cirrhinus reba and Labeo calbasu and other transplanted carps are also found here. However, the maintenance of the dam has been poor. In 2000, a part of the dam had to be demolished to prevent floods and save 25 villages

Water started overflowing the dam and only 1 crest gate could be opened. Nearly 150 feet of the dam was demolished to allow excess water to flow out.

What is so special in Markonahalli Dam?

 The technology behind these siphons is simple. Siphons are the only way for water to pass through. And these work on the simple principle of airflow. The air hole shown in the picture is always closed and when the dam reaches its capacity water is forced to pass through the siphons since there is no way for air to enter except the closed-hole!! Hence this dam requires no actual maintenance!! It takes very less time to empty the full dam (less than 2 hours!).

Map Location for Markonahalli Dam

Markonahalli Dam Fisheries

27 species of fish, including 13 species of commercial fishes have been recorded in the reservoir. Even after many decades dam reservoirs sustained many fishes like P. Dorsalis, Puntius sarana, and Labeo calbasu and Cirrhinus reba along with the transplanted carps. Fisheries management should address the problems of enhancing the productivity of endemic fishes.

River Shimsha

Markonahalli dam is built across the river shimsha, which flows through the southern part of India. The river originates from Tiptur taluk, Tumkur district, flows through mandya district and have a beautiful waterfall at Shimshapura in Malavalli Taluk. just after Shimshapura, it reaches the border of Chamarajanagar district where it joins the river Kaveri.

The shimsha river and Kaveri meet near shivana Samudra falls.The total length of river is 221 kms with area of 8469 km². It also joins small rivers like Veeravaishnavi, Kanihalla, Chikkahole, Hebbahalla, Mullahalla and Kanva before joining kaveri.

Power generation

Shimsha has a waterfall at Shimshapura in Malavalli Taluk. This is also the location of the Shimsha Hydro Electric Project which has an installed capacity of 17,200 kilowatts.

It was the first ever hydro electric project in Asia. Kolar Gold Fields was supplied with the electricity generated in 1902. Three years later Bangalore was electrified.

Problems/Issues

Sand Mining

1. The sand found on the river bed of the Shimsha river is mined and used for construction activities, sometimes illegally. Due to the environmental issues that can be caused by sand mining, this activity is currently banned.

Water pollution

1. Discharge of waste from towns and cities on the way are major contributors to pollution in the Shimsha. However, the Government is trying to clean up the river and has released funds for the same

Top Places To Visit Near Markonahalli Dam

1. siddaganga matha
2. Shivagange hills
3. Siddharabetta
4. Madugiri fort
5. Goravanahalli Mahalakshmi temple
6. Kaidala Temple
7. Namada chilume
8. Jayamanghali Forest
9. Chowdeshwari Temple In Tiptur
10. Gulur Ganesha
11. Mandara Giri Jain Temple
12. Hatyal Narasimha Swamy Temple
13. Seebi Narasimha Swamy Temple

How to reach Markonahalli Dam from Bangalore?

By Bus: Frequent buses are available from Majestic to Tumkur, there are one/two buses from Tumkur to the temple. [you may need to take a private vehicle if you don’t get the bus from Tumkur]

By Train: Many Trains are available from the Majestic railway station to Tumkur railway station, there are one/two buses from Tumkur to the temple. [you may need to take private vehicle if you didn’t get the bus from Tumkur]

BY Air: Bangalore Airport is the nearest airport, you can take Airport taxis and cabs to reach Markonahalli Dam.

Resorts and Hotels nearby Markonahalli Dam

Tumkur has many resorts and luxurious hotels to stay. There are resorts and hotels to suit everybody. Even Budget hotels also available to stay.

Naveen Regency Hotel
Service Road, NH 48, Tumkur- 572104
Phone: +910816 221 3377
Website:  www.naveenregency.com

Hotel Vyshak International
No. 19,
Subbaiah Road Kuvempunagar,
Tumkur- 572103
Phone Number: +91 99458 02991

Woodlands Hotel
Address BH Road,
Railway Station Road,
Tumkur – 572101
Phone: +91 0816 2281 555

Dwaraka Hotel
Address MG Road,
Tumkur – 572101

Markonahalli Dam – Word of Caution

If you plan on going off-roading in Markonahalli Dam at Kunigal Taluk, a slight word of caution. Passing your bike through a certain ditch might cause it tomany bikers recount this episode and claim that they had to drag their vehicle all the way to Bangalore in order to get it working again. According to some, this ditch is the very spot where an old lady was buried.

source: fb

Final Thoughts

I am very happy to see the new technology used in dam, very much interested to know and learn the things like this. If you visited this, let me know in comments about it.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)