B Major Dams in India

TEHRI DAM (UTTARAKHAND)

Tehri Dam located on the Bhagirathi River, Uttaranchal now become Uttarakhand. Tehri Dam is the highest dam
in India with a height of 261 meters and the eighth tallest dam in the world. The Dam water reservoir use for
irrigation, municipal water supply and the generation of 1,000 MW of hydroelectricity.

General Details Of Dam

Location Tehri, Uttrakhand
Purpose Multipurpose
River Bhagirathi River
Type Embankment, earth and rock-fill
Maximum height 260.5 m
Length at the top of the dam 575 m
Reservoir Details
Area at full reservoir level 52 km2
Gross storage capacity 3,200,000 acre⋅ft
Spillway Details
Type 1 Chute Spillway + 4 shaft spillway
Energy dissipater Cascading stilling basins
Maximum discharge 15540 m3/sec
Details of Power House
Type Hydropower (vertical Francis turbine) operated by THDC India Ltd.
Hydraulic Head 90 m
Capacity 4x250 = 1000 MW, Maximum Planned 2400 MW

Power is distributed to Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Delhi, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Chandigarh,
Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh. Tehri Hydro Power Complex (2400 MW), comprises the following components:
(i) Tehri Dam & Hydro Power Plant (1000 MW)
(ii) Koteshwar Hydro Electric Project (400 MW)
(iii) Tehri Pumped Storage Plant (PSP) (1000 MW)
The Tehri Dam project has brought concerns about the environmental problems of locating a large dam in the
delicate ecosystem of the Himalayan foothills. There are growing concerns regarding the dam's stability. Tehri dam
is located 7.5kms above the Central Himalayan Seismic Gap, which is a major geologic fault zone. This region was
the site of a 6.8 magnitude earthquake in October 1991, with an epicentre 5 km from the location of the dam.
Building of the dam will put further pressure on the seismic gap and thus increases the chances of an EQ.
The Tehri dam is designed to withstand an earthquake of 8.4 magnitude, but some seismologists say that
earthquakes with a magnitude of 8.5 or more could occur in this region. This could result in a dam-break and the
flood waters from the dam could submerge numerous towns comming in the way. Tehri dam has been in active
protest by environmental organizations and local people of the region.
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BHAKRA DAM (HIMACHAL PRADESH)

Bhakra Nangal Dam is a gravity dam across the Sutlej River Himachal Pradesh. Bhakra is the largest dam in India,
with a height of 226 meters and second largest Dam in Asia. Its reservoir, known as the “Gobind Sagar Lake”. In
terms of quantity of water, it is the third largest reservoir in India, the first being Indira Sagar dam in Madhya
Pradesh with capacity of 12.22 billion cu m and second Nagarjunasagar Dam. Nangal Dam is another dam in
Punjab downstream of Bhakra Dam. However, sometimes both the dams together are called Bhakra-Nangal
dam though they are two separate dams.

General Details Of Dam

Location
Type & Purpose
Maximum height
Length at the top of the dam
Reservoir Details
Area at full reservoir level
Gross storage capacity
Spillway Details
Type
Maximum discharge
Details of Power House
Type
Capacity
Satluj River, Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh
Gravity type, Multipurpose Dam
226 m
520 m
168.35 km2
9.340 km3
4 nos. of Overflow type spillway
8212 m3/sec
Francis Type Turbines
Left (3 x 108 MW + 2 x 126MW ) + Right (5 x 157 MW) = 1325 MW

The Bhakra Canal fed by this dam provides irrigation to 40,000 km2 of fields in Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan.
The power generated at Bhakra dam is distributed among partner states of Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan,
Chandigarh and Delhi. Three additional power plants are on the two canals Nangal Hydel Channel and Anandpur
Sahib Hydel Channel that originate from Nangal dam. Their total generation capacity is 290 MW.

HIRAKUD DAM (ODISHA)

Hirakud dam built across the Mahanadi River in tribal state Orissa. Hirakud Dam is one of the longest dams in the
world about 26 km in length. There are two observation towers on the dam one is “Gandhi Minar” and another one
is “Nehru Minar”. Hirakud Dam has three canals, namely Bargarh, Sason and Sambalpur Canal.
General Details Of Dam
Location Mahanadi River, Sambalpur, Odisha
Type & Purpose Composite, Multipurpose dam
Maximum height 60.96 m
Length at the top of the dam 25.79 km (main dam length - 4.8km) – longest dam in India
Reservoir Details
Area at full reservoir level 83,400 km2
Gross storage capacity 5,896,000,000 m3 (4,779,965 acre⋅ft)
Spillway Details
Type 64 sluice-gates, 34 crest-gates
Maximum discharge 42450 m3/sec
Details of Power House
Capacity 2 x 49.5 MW, 3 x 37.5 MW, 2 x 32 MW + 3 x 24 MW = 347.5 MW (Kaplan type)
SANKALP EDUCATION Major Dams in India | 245

NAGARJUNASAGAR DAM (TELANGANA/ANDHRA PRADESH)

Nagarjuna Sagar Dam is the world’s largest masonry dam with a height of 124 meters, built across Krishna River
in Telangana. Nagarjuna Sagar Dam is certainly the pride of India-considered one of the largest man-made lake in
the world. The 1.6 km long with 26 gates dam was symbol of modern India’s architectural and technological
triumphs over nature. The right canal (Jawahar canal) is 203 km with maximum 311.5 cumecs capacity and irrigates
4,520 km2 of land in Guntur and Prakasam districts. The left canal (Lalbahadur Shastri canal) is 179 km long with
maximum 311.5 cumecs capacity and irrigates 4,080 km2 of land in Nalgonda, Suryapet, Krishna, West Godavari
and Khamman districts.
General Details Of Dam
Location Krishna River, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh & Nalgonda district, Telangana
Type & Purpose Masonry type, multipurpose dam
Maximum height 124.66 m from River level
Length at the top of the dam 1550 m
Reservoir Details
Area at full reservoir level 215,000 km2
Gross storage capacity 9,371,845 acre·ft
Spillway Details
Type & Discharge 26 Nos. of Radial Crest Gates (42,476 cumec) , flip bucket type energy dissipater
Details of Power House
Type Francis & Reversible Francis Turbine
Capacity 1 x 110 MW Francis, 7 x 100.8 MW reversible Francis turbines = 816 MW

IDUKKI DAM (KERALA)

The Idukki Dam is a double curvature Arch dam constructed across the Periyar River in a narrow gorge between
two granite hills locally known as Kuravan and Kurathi in Kerala. At 168.91 metres, it is one of the highest arch
dams in Asia.
General Details Of Dam
Location Periyar River, Kerala
Type & Purpose Arch Dam, Power Generation
Maximum height 168.81 m
Length at the top of the dam 365.85 m
Reservoir Details
Area at full reservoir level 5.55 km2
Gross storage capacity 1,460×106 m3
Spillway Details NIL
Details of Power House
Type Pelton Type
Capacity 6 x 130 MW = 780 MW

One thing to be noted is, Idukki Arch dam doesn't have any shutters(gates) to be opened so it has to rely on
the Cheruthoni dam to maintain the reservoir water level. During 2018 Kerala Flood, all 5 gates of this dam were
opened for the very first time in the history.
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Highlights- Major Dams in India

(i). Tallest Dam in India is Tehri Dam (260.5 m, Bhagirathi River, Uttarakhand). The tallest dam (arch dam)
in the world is Jinpig-I dam (China) having a height of 304m.
(ii). Longest Dam in world is Hirakud Dam (25.8 km, Maha River, Odisha).
(iii). The Idukki Dam (Periyar River, Kerala) is the tallest arch dam in Asia. The tallest dam (arch dam) in the
world is Jinpig-I dam (China) having a height of 304m.
(iv). Largest Reservoir in India is Indirasagar Reservoir (9,890,701 acre ft). Indirasagar Dam on the Narmada
River in Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh creates the largest reservoir in India, followed by
Nagarjunasagar reservoir and Gobind Sagar reservoir.
(v). Tehri dam has largest hydroelectric power plant of India with 2400 MW capacity. The Koyna Dam
(Maharashtra) is the second largest hydroelectric power plant in India with total installed capacity of 1960
MW. The Three Gorges Dam (China) has the world’s largest power station in terms of installed capacity.
It is mounted with 32 Francis turbines of 700 MW and 2 turbines of 50 MW capacity. (total 22500 MW)
(vi). Rihand Dam (UP) is the largest Dam of India by Volume. Rihand Dam with 91.46 m height is a concrete
gravity dam and one of the largest dam of India by volume and also create one of the largest artificial lake
in India called Govind Ballabh Pant Sagar.
(vii). Dhebar Lake in Udaipur district of Rajasthan is India’s second-largest artificial lake, after Govind Ballabh
Pant Sagar, surrounding Jaisamand Wildlife Sanctuary and marble dam across the Gomati River.
(viii). Ganges River basin is largest basin (1,080,000 km2) in India.
(ix). The Lakhwar Dam (Yamuna River, Uttarakhand) is the under construction dam (Gravity dam) of India
with height of 204 m for the purpose of irrigation of 40,000 hectare land and 927 MW power generation.
(x). Sardar Sarovar Dam (Gujarat) is the second largest concrete dam in the world in terms of the volume of
concrete used to construct dam after the Grand Coulee dam across River Columbia, US.
(xi). The Narmada canal is the longest lined canal network in the world. This canal is contour type canal. The
Indira Gandhi Canal (Rajasthan Canal) is the longest canal in the India. (total length of 650 km)