Multi purpose river

projects and
integrated water
resources
management
Atharva, Avishi, Gayatri, Ishani,
Leena, Nehal, Nikita
Building hydraulic
structures

• A commonly adapted solution for water

conservation going way back to the first
century BCE

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

History and
Hydraulic
Constructions
• 1st Century BCE- Sringaverapura, Andhra Pradesh
• Water harvesting system
• Comprises three percolation-cum-storage tanks, fed by an 11 m wide and 5
m deep canal that used to skim the floodwaters off the Ganga.
• Water from the canal first entered a silting chamber where the dirt settled.
This relatively clean water was then directed to the first brick-lined tank
(Tank A), then through a stepped inlet (which cleaned the water further) on
to Tank B. This tank constituted the primary source of water supply. Next,
the water passed to a circular Tank C, which had an elaborate staircase. An
elaborate waste weir, consisting of seven spill channels, a crest, and a final
exit, ensured that the excess water flowed back into the Ganga.
 Chandragupta the Bhopal Lake Sultan Iltutmish, in
Maurya’s reign: Dams, Haus Khas, Delhi
irrigation systems etc.

Other historical
evidences
321-297 BCE 11th Century 14th Century
DAMS
Spillway: created to ensure that excess water, if
accumulated, can be emptied thereby not
degrading the dam itself

Material used:
- Timber dams
- Embankment dams
- Mansory dams

Height:
- Large/Major dams
- Low dams
- Medium height dams
- High dams
 Irrigation/ Domestic Electricity generation
water supply (hydropower)

Uses of Dams

Flood control, inland Fish breeding,

navigation Recreation
DAMS AND
CONFLICT

• Construction of a dam requires major

displacement of people around it
• Displacement => livelihoods lost
• Deforestation and pollution
OPPOSITION OF DAMS
ENVIRONMENTAL
AND ECOLOGICAL
REASONS

Regulating flow of water

results in poor sediment
flow
 1. THIS MAY ALSO LEAD TO EXCESSIVE
SEDIMENTATION MAKING THE RIVER
BEDS ROCKIER AND POOR HABITATS FOR
AQUATIC LIFE.

• DAMS FRAGMENT RIVERS MAKING IT HARD

FOR AQUATIC ANIMALS TO MIGRATE.
 • SINCE WATER IS AVAILABLE IN
LARGE QUANTITIES, FARMERS
GROW WATER INTENSIVE CROPS.

• THIS CHANGE IN CROPPING AND

IRRIAGTION LEADS TO
SALINISATION OF SOIL .
1. IT ALSO SUBMERGES VEGETATION
LEADING TO SOIL DEGRADATION
 • EG- MAHARASHTRA AND
1. BIG DAMS THAT HAVE BEEN
GUJRAT (2006)
CONSTRUCTED TO RESTRICT FLOODS
HAVE FAILED TO DO SO BECAUSE OF
EXCESSIVE SEDIMENTATION.
SOCIAL
REASONS

1. A SOCIAL REASON ASSOCIATED

WITH THE OPPOSION IS THAT A
LARGE AMOUNT OF LOCALS GET
DISPLACED FROM THEIR HOMES
AND VILLAGES.
• IT INCREASE THE GAP BETWEEN THE RICH
LANDLORDS AND THE LANDLESS POOR, THUS
LEADING TO SOCIAL CONFLICTS.
CASE STUDY
– SARDAR
SAROVAR
DAM
• THE BUILDING OF THE SARDAR SAROVAR DAM WAS MUCH
DISPUTED BECAUSE ENVIRONMENTALISTS BELIEVED IT
WOULD SUBMERGE COUNTLESS TREES.

• THIS LED TO THE • EVEN AFTER IT’S

NARMADA BACHAO CONSTRUCTION, FARMERS
ANDOLAN, WHICH WAS ALMOST CAUSED A RIOT
ORGANISED BY A NGO BECAUSE OF THE PREFERENCE
AGAINST THE GIVEN TO URBAN AREAS FOR
CONSTRUCTION OF THE MORE WATER SUPPLY
DAM.
Thank You!