Unexpected visit to Markonahalli Dam

31st July 2021,

Yet another unwinding weekend. Call it fortunate or destiny, initial plan was to visit T G halli dam but ended up with Markonahalli dam near Yediyur. So how did it happen? It was uninviting for sure. My morning intuition steered me to Markonahalli dam than TG halli dam. Later I realized why it was :-). Read through..

Yet another Saturday afternoon we geared up to visit Thippagondanahalli Dam (TG halli dam) situated near Magadi which is man made reservoir supplying drinking water supply to Bangalore. So what is man made reservoir? It means the water is sourced from rainwater stream and pooled in a larger area. This is what my understanding is. Anyways dams are constructed by humans but in this case, reservoir is not built across natural stream like river. Even I am not sure how the water is sourced to this dam. This dam once abandoned due to lack of rain(?) is being rejuvenated again to quench the thirst of endlessly growing Bangalore city. Especially, West Bangalore is assumed to benefit more from this project.

We started as usual with taxing mid-day city traffic especially at Nagashetti Halli flyover, goruguntepalya junction and the subsequent signal. Its quite exhaustive to cross this junction due to jostling two-wheeler and lethargic trucks. We lost almost 40min before crossing the Toll gate. The rest of journey was smoother one. The maps showed us a longer route but the one with lesser traffic. We realised the suggestion of google maps when we reached Magadi road. The Magadi road is getting complete makeover but not yet complete. This would increase commute time for sure. The half baked road was emanating huge cloud of dust at few places. Some places, the dip was horrible. These places horrify me since the car is prone to punctures. Hence map suggested us to take a comfortable route which can be achieved with lesser pain. Perhaps, after the work is culminated, we can drive to Udupi via this road till Kunigal which can bypass couple of toll gates :-D.  After few kms of drive along Magadi road with varying quality, we reached the TG halli dam jurisdiction. We had instant shock when the security at the entrance outright said that entry is prohibited. We were utterly disappointed :-(. Without wasting time, we decided to drive towards Markonahalli dam.

It was 3:10PM and there was ample time. But the internet warned that the dam would close by 5:30PM. We steered back to Magadi road towards Kunigal. Barring few stretches, the road was relatively smooth and completed. The road through magadi town though needed full make over. It took 40 mins to cover 25kms. This road is definitely not worth driving at night currently.

The drive past was Kunigal was completely rejoicing. Lesser traffic, smooth roads and no interceptors :-D. We reached markonahalli dam within 50mins. Except the last 1km village road, it was aeroplane drive. The last one km is interior road which has plenty of potholes to negotiate. We reached the place at 4:15PM and ready to explore.

My last visit (read here) was around June month when only tiny swamps were visible from the Dam sight. This time the dam was filled completely or nearing completion mark. For sure, this was exciting visit thanks to copious monsoon rains over catchment areas. However, the massive cloud cover was absent this time. The bright Sun allowed us to smoothly explore the dam area. The mellowing evening light provided ideal studio setup for photography. 

As already mentioned in my previous blog post, the dam is constructed under guidance of Sir M vishweshwarayya using siphoning technique. No manual intervention is needed when dam fills up. Whenever water reaches threshold, the mechanism engineered to open the dam gates automatically to push excess water downstream. The water source of dam is Shimsha river and to some extent Hemavathi river also(?). It looks like the dam also has manual mechanism of opening gates for emergencies or power generation. I overheard from local guys which I am not sure.

It is possible to walk over the dam for nearly one kilometre. Authorities have build a nice concrete walking tracking over the Dam. The walking track is well maintained and provides expansive views of the reservoir. Street lights are installed throughout the walking track which means the dam area is illuminated at night? Not sure for what purpose since the dam is closed by 5:30PM. Perhaps a state run guest house is located near the dam area.

It is possible to explore the dam in detail. Visitors are allowed in batches to avoid COVID transmission and perhaps due to reduce load on dam structure (looks impractical, just a guess). The dam caretaker charges Rs.20 unofficially to view complete dam with brief explanation. There is no token issued for the fee paid. Looks like, its his source of additional income :-).

The dam also hosts a short pier but was locked during our visit. The pier path is bit riskier one and hence authorities would have closed them. Also the water level was quite high which means gravity pull also may be high. Overall the pier apparently seems to be closed mainly due to safety reasons

The water is primarily used for irrigation purpose. The area covered with farm lands is testimony for that. A channel also runs down the dam which is visible from dam promenade. The dam water is also used for drinking water purpose looks like. Apart from this as I mentioned earlier, small scale power generation is may be one more purpose. The authorities have also provided few fishing contracts. We saw coracles over the dam for this purpose. Not sure if everyone is allowed to fish or only experienced locals.

After exploring dam sight, I took few timelapse videos. Remember, videography is not allowed. I took some to document my visit with family. Caretaker reproached my videography session near core Dam area. Hence I took only where no objection was raised.

It is possible to reach the shore of dam but it is not officially allowed. Threat of drowning and crocodiles prompted officials to raise a plaque to warn the visitors. Even though it is not possible to reach the water body nearby dam, the places en-route to dam where farmlands are located allow you to visit the shore. But it is officially not allowed, so be cautious if you are planning for adventure!

We started back to Bangalore with lot of satisfaction. On the way back, the famished soul wanted a tummy treat. Swathi was the nearest in Yediyur. As usual Swathi was crowded hence we avoided this overrated restaurant. The stomach was rumbling hard. Upon exploration along highway, we tried VEGETAREA and the taste was equally good. The price is bit high which even Swathi has. We had butter Masala Dose and Gobi Manchurian which was yummy. The Masala tea was exceptional which is worth to taste here.

Plenty of mobile snack shops are present nearby dam sight since it is well-known rural get-away. Being closer to Mangalore-Bangalore National Highway, there are quite good number of food joints along the highway namely Mayura, Swathi, Vegetarea, pakashaala, Halli mane.

Post the snack break, we continued our journey to Bangalore. Unlike the last visit to Nelligudde kere, the return journey was smooth. We hardly faced any city traffic mess this time. Hence it was not tiring drive through the city.

Here is a short video from Markonahalli Dam