The Indian Navy diving team of Southern Naval Command (SNC), based at Kochi has completed repairs to the sluice gate of Peechi Dam located in Thrissur on 26 Sep 20. The Naval divers were deployed since 22 Sep 20 for rectification of emergency shutters at sluice gate of the dam consequent to a request from district administration, Trichur.
One of the check valves, which controlled the flow of water to a small hydro project, located on the sides of the spillway shutters had malfunctioned resulting in a gap of four metres in the gate located inside the dam at the depth of 20 metres. The other gates of the dam had to be partially opened to stop the rising water levels in the dam. The naval divers undertook diving to clear a big log and other debris at the site, which prevented lowering of the gate.
The extremely high pressure of gushing water had made the task difficult and high risk intensive. After continuous diving efforts for the past four days, the Naval diving team carried out various modifications in the gate with the help from Irrigation dept. and Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) officials, and successfully lowered the gate fully.
The Naval Diving Team is trained at the Diving School at the Southern Naval Command. In addition to training the Indian Navy divers, Diving School trains divers for the Indian Army, Indian Coast Guard, and the Border Security Force (BSF) and from friendly foreign countries. Recently the diving team from SNC was involved in diving efforts off Mauritius.