Multipurpose River Valley Projects in India

Beas Project :  It is a joint venture of the government of Punjab; Haryana and Rajasthan.
It consists of two units:
(i) Beas – Sutlej link and
(ii) Beas Dam at Pong.

Beas-Sutlej Link :  The Project links the Beas and the Sutlej rivers in Punjab through 38.4 km of hill and valleys. The project is shared by Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan which will benefit from its irrigation and power potential. The biggest beneficiary will be Haryana.

Bhadra Reservoir Project ::- Bhadra Reservoir Project  is across the river Bhadra in Karnataka.

Bhakara – Nangal Project (Himachal Pradesh) : It is the largest multipurpose project in India and the highest straight-gravity dam in the world (225.5 m high) ont the river Sutlej.

Chambal Project  :- Chambal Project   is a joint undertaking by the Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh governments. The Rana Pratap Dam at Bhata, 488 km from Kotah, was inaugurted on Fed 9, 1970. The project comprises construction of two other dams : Gandhi Sagar Dam in Madhya Pradesh and Jawahar Sagar (Kotah) Dam in Rajasthan.

Chamera Hydro-Electric Project : The 540 MW Chamera Hydroelectric project on the river in Himachal Pradesh was implemented with Canadian credit offer about Rs. 335 crore.

Chukha Project :  The 336 MW project is the most prestigious and largest in Bhutan.   It  has   been completely   built by India. The dam has been constructed on   Wang  Chu  river.   The   project costed Rs.244 crore.

Damodar  Velley Project (West Bengal and Bihar)  : Principal object of this multipurpose scheme is to control the flowing of the Damodar which is notorious for its vagaries and destrutiveness. It is designed on the lines of  the Tennesses Valley Authority  (T.V.A.)  in  U.S.A.

Dul-Hasti Hydro-electric Project : The 1263 crore project has been built on river Chenab in Jammu and Kashmir. The foundation of the project was laid in September 1984. The project consists of a power plant of 390 MW capacity. The power house will be located underground.

Farakka Barrage :  The basic aim of the Farakka Barrage is to preserve and maintain Calcutta port and to improve the navigability of the Hooghly river. It consists of a barrage across the Ganga at Farakka. Another barrage at Jangipur across the Bhagirathi, a 39-km long feeder canal taking off from the right bank of the Ganga at Farakka and tailing into the Bhagirathi below the Jangipur barrage, and a road-cum-rail bridge have already been completed. Especially, the object of Farakka is to use about 40,000 cusecs of water out of the water stored in the dam to flush the Calcutta port which is getting silted up.

Gandak Project (Bihar and UP)  : This is a joint venture of India and Nepal as per agreement signed between the two governments on Dec. 4, 1959. Bihar and UP are the participating Indian States. Nepal would also derive irrigation and power benefits from this project.

Hirakud Project (Orissa)  : is the first of a chain of three Dams planned for harvesting the Mahanadi.

Idduki Hydro-Electric Project :  It is a giant hydro-electric project of Kerala and one of the biggest in the country constructed with Canadian assistance with an installed capacity of 390 MW in the first stage and 780 MW on the second stage. The project envisages to harness Periyar water and it has three major dams, the 160 m high Iddukki arch dam across Periyar river, 138 m high Cheruthoni Dam across the tributary of Cheruthoni river and 99.9 m high Kulmavu Dam.

Jayakwadi Dam (Maharashtra):  The 10-km long Jayakwadi dam on the Godavari is Maharashtra’s largest power project located near Paithan.

Kakarapara Project :- Kakarapara Project is on the river Tapti near Kakarapara, 80 km upstream of Surat. The project is financed by the Gujarat government.

Koel Karo Project :  The project envisages construction of eastern dam across river south Koel at Basia in Bihar and another dam over north Karo at Lohajimi. The capacity will be 710 MW.

Kol Project :  The 600 MW project is to be located on the Sutlej, 6 km upstream of the Dehar House on the BeasSutlej link project in Mandi districts, Himachal Pradesh. Beas generting power, the dam will also serve as a check dam for the 1,050-MW Bhara Dam to prolong its life by at least 10 years.

Nagarjuna Sagar Project : is a venture of Andhra Pradesh for utilising water from the Krishna river.  The Nagarjuna Sagar Dam was inaugurated on Aug. 4, 1967. It is situated near Nadikonad village in Mriyalguda taluk of Nalgonda district.

Nathpa-Jhakri Hydel Project : 1500 MW Nathpa-Jhakri Project  is  to  be  built  over  river  Sutlej  in  Kinnaur district  of  Himachal  Pradesh  at a cost of about Rs. 2216.34 crore.  The project will be Asia’s biggest Hydroelectric project.

Parambikulam Aliyar Project : is a joint venture of Tamil Nadu and Kerala States. It envisages construction of seven inter-connected reservoirs by harnessing river including 2 major rivers viz., Parambikulam on the western slopes of Anamalai hills and Aliyar on the eastern slopes.

Parappalar Dam : The Rs.1-Crore Parappalar Dam with a storage capacity of 1677 million cubic feet near Oddenchatram about 75 km from Madurai in Palani taluk (Tamil Nadu), was inaugurated on August 30, 1976.

Periyar Valley Scheme (Kerala) : The scheme envisages the construction of a masonary barrage 210.92 meters long  across   the   river   Periyar   near   Alwaye,  in Ernakulam district.

Pong Dam : Also called the Beas Dam on the river Beas, near  Talwara in Himachal Pradesh, is the highest (132 m high) rockfill dam in the  country.  The project is a joint venture of Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana. The dam has been designed to store 6.6 million cu. feet of water.

Rajasthan Canal Project :  It is a bold venture of irrigation to a desert area. The project, which uses water from the Pong Dam, consists  of  215-km  long  Rajasthan feeder canal with the first 178 km in Punjab and Haryana and the remaining 37 km in Rajasthan  and  the  467-km long Rajasthan main canal lying entirely in Rajasthan.

Ramganga River Project :  UP envisages construction of a dam across the river Ramganga, one of the major tributaries of the Ganges at 3.2 km upstreams of Kalagarh in Garhwal district.

Rihand Project :  (Mirzapur District – U.P.)  This project has been completed by the U.P. government and comprises construction of a concrete gravity dam across the Rihand river in Mirzapur District (UP) and a Power House at Pimpri and necessary transmission lines.

Rongtong – World’s Highest Hydro Power Project : The Rongtong project is situated in Kaza in the Spiti  Valley in Himachal Pradesh. The project will help transform the entire cold mountain desert into a lush green belt.

Salal Project :  It has been built on River Chenab in Jammu and Kashmir. The first stage was completed on February 9, 1989 and marked the beginning of the harnessing of hydro-power potential of the river Chenab. At present the capacity of the power house is 345 MW.  With the completion of Second stage the capacity will be doubled.

Sanja  Vidyut (Hydel) Project :  It is  Asia’s first fully underground Hydel Project. The 120 MW project is located near Bhaba Nagar in Kinnur district of Himachal Pradesh. It harnesses the water of the Bhaba khud, a tributary of Sutlej.

Sardar Sarovar Project :  This is one of the largest river valley schemes in the country.  The project envisages construction of 163-meter-high cement concrete dam at Navagam in Gujarat. This will create irrigation potential of 1.79 million hectares and generate 1450 MW of power. On completion of the project more than 40 per cent of the drought-affected areas of Gujarat would be ensured against the calamity.

Sharavati Project (Karnataka)  : Located about 400 km from Bangalore near the Gersoppa falls, the Sharavati project is one of the world’s major power projects, built by Indian Engineers with American collaboration.

Subarnarekha Project :  It is Rs. 130-crore multipurpose project which would, when completed, provide assured irrigation to 7,06,000 acres to the chronically droughtprone areas of Orissa and Bihar.

Ranjit Sagar Dam : In view of the situation that developed after the expiry of the Indus water treaty (with Pakistan) on March 31, 1970, the Punjab Government drew up plans to utilize water of the Ravi. It is proposed to construct a 131.6 m high dam at Thein village across the Ravi 25 km upstream, of Madhopur headworks at an estimate cost of Rs.92 crore. The project was earlier known as Thein Dam Project.

Tehri Dam Project : The project is to be built by the Soviet Union on a turnkey basis. This dam being constructed will be the third highest dam in the world. The total capacity will be increased to 2000 MW in the second stage of the project.

Telugu Ganga Project :  Inaugurated in May 1983 this project will consist of 400 km long canal named  Telugu Ganga which starts from the Srisailam reservoir of Krishna river in Kurnool district. The canal will join four more reservoirs on way before joining the Poondi reservoir in Tamil Nadu. The Poondi reservoir is to meet the drinking water needs of Chennai.

Tunghabhadra Project (Andhra and Karnataka) : It is a joint undertaking by the governments of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. The project comprises a dam across the Tungabhadra river near Mallapuram.

Ukai Project :  The  Ukai  power  project  of Gujarat equipped with power generating sets manufactured by Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited was inaugurated on October 12, 1977. It has added  540,00  MW  of  installed capacity    to   the  State’s existing power network.

Upper Krishna (Karnataka) : A Project consisting of Narayanpur dam across the Krishna river and a dam at Almatti.

Upper Penganga (Maharashtra) :  Two reservoirs on penganga river at Isapur is  Yavalmal district and the other on Rayadhu river at Sapli in Parbhani district.

Uri Power Project :  It is located on the river Jhelum in the Uri  Tehsil of Baramulla district in Jammu and Kashmir. It is a 480 mw hydroelectric project which was dedicated to the nation on February 13, 1997.