Bhakra Nangal Dam is a concretegravity dam on the Satluj River in Bhakra Village in Bilaspur district, Himachal Pradesh in northern India. The dam forms the Gobind Sagar reservoir. Nangal Dam is another dam at Nangal in Punjab downstream of Bhakra Dam. However, sometimes both the dams together are called Bhakra-Nangal Dam though they are two separate dams.
The dam is located at a gorge near the (now submerged) upstream Bhakra village in Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh and is of height 226m.[1] The length of the dam (measured from the road above it) is 518.25m and the width is 9.1m. Its reservoir known as "Gobind Sagar" stores up to 9.34 billion cubic metres of water. The 90km long reservoir created by the Bhakra Dam is spread over an area of 168.35km2. In terms of storage 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 cubic meters and the second being Nagarjunasagar Dam in Telangana.
Described as "New Temple of Resurgent India" by Jawaharlal Nehru,[2] the first prime minister of India, the dam attracts tourists from all over India. Bhakra dam is 15km from Nangal town, Punjab and 106km from Bilaspur
Nehru during the construction of the Dam in the Punjab, 1953
The Bhakra-Nangal multipurpose dams were among the earliest river valley development schemes undertaken by India after independence though the project had been conceived long before India became a free nation. The agreement for this project had been signed by the then Punjab Revenue Minister, Sir Chhotu Ram in November 1944 with Raja of Bilaspur and finalised the project plan on 8 January 1945. Preliminary works commenced in 1946. Construction of the dam started in 1948; Jawaharlal Nehru poured the first bucket of concrete into the dry riverbed of the Sutlej on 17 November 1955, as a symbolic initiation of the work. Addressing a gathering there, he said, "This is a gift to the people of India and to the future generations from the workers who built this dam", calling for "raising a memorial" at the dam "in honour" of the workers.[3] The dam was completed by the end of 1963. Successive stages were completed by the early 1970s.
Initially, the construction of the dam was started by Sir Louis Dane, the Lieutenant Governor of Punjab. But the project got delayed and was restarted soon after independence under the chief architect Rai Bahadur Kunwar Sen Gupta. It was financed entirely by the union government. The Control Board for the project included representatives from union government, and of the governments of Punjab, Patiala and East Punjab States Union, Rajasthan, Bilaspur and Himachal Pradesh. The dam was built primarily by Indian workers, with the exception of the American Harvey Slocum who consulted on the project and many workers from the United States Bull Shoals Dam project that joined Slocum on the construction of the Bhakra Dam. A small city was constructed to house the U.S. workers.[4] The organisation evolved for the purpose of design and construction was divided into three parts. The Designs Directorate provided the designs and drawings. The Construction and Plant Design Directorate was to look after its execution and installing of the plant, while the Directorate of Inspection and Control ensured that the specifications are accorded to safety requirements were met.[5] In early 1954, Nehru visited the dam to formally inaugurate it. Historian Ramachandra Guha writes[4]:
As he [Nehru] flicked on the switch of the power house, Dakotas of the Indian air force dipper their wings overhead. Next he opened the sluice gates of the dam. Seeing the water coming towards them, the villagers downstream set off hundreds of homemade crackers. As one eyewitness wrote, 'For 150 miles the boisterous celebration spread like a chain reaction along the great canal and the branches and distributaries to the edge of the Rajasthan Desert, long before the water got there'
In October 1963, at the ceremony to mark the dedication of the Bhakra–Nangal project to the nation, Prime Minister Nehru said, "This dam has been built with the unrelenting toil of man for the benefit of mankind and therefore is worthy of worship. May you call it a Temple or a Gurdwara or a Mosque, it inspires our admiration and reverence". On 22 October 2013, the Government of India approved the release of a commemorative stamp to mark the 50th anniversary of the Bhakra Dam. As how successful India was at that time that it was the only dam in Asia which could produce 1500 MW power.
Also, these are multipurpose projects.
Features
The dam, at 741ft (226m), is one of the highest gravity dams in the world (compared to USA's largest Oroville Dam at 770ft). The 166km2Gobindsagar Reservoir, named after Guru Gobind Singh, is created by this dam which is the third largest reservoir in India the first being Indira Sagar Dam and second Nagarjunasagar Dam.[6] The river Satluj used to flow through a narrow gorge between two hills, Naina Devi ki dhar and Ramgarh ki dhar, and the site was chosen to dam the river. The large map http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/ams/india/nh-43-03.jpg shows the location of the original Bhakra village that was submerged in the lake formed behind the dam.
Bhakra dam was part of the larger multipurpose Bhakra Nangal Project whose aims were to prevent floods in the Satluj-Beas river valley, to provide irrigation to adjoining states and also to provide hydro-electricity. It also became a tourist spot for the tourists during later years because of its huge size and uniqueness.
It also has four spillway gates that are only used when the reservoir exceeds the maximum allowed level.
Nangal dam is a barrage dam that is 10km downstream of Bhakra dam
Irrigation
The dam holds excess waters during the monsoon and provides a regulated release during the year. It also prevents damage due to monsoon floods. The Bhakra Canal fed by this dam provides irrigation to 10 million acres of (40,000km2) fields in Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan.[7]
Water flows from Bhakra Dam downstream Nangal dam where it is controlled and released into Nangal Hydel Channel that later becomes Bhakra Main Line after Ganguwal and Kotla power plants. The Bhakra main line is a canal that mostly supplies irrigation water to the state of Haryana.
Electricity generation
Bhakra Dam has ten power generators with five on each side. Generators for the left power house were originally supplied by Hitachi, Japan and upgraded to the present capacity by Sumitomo, Hitachi and Andritz.[8][9] Generators for the right side were originally supplied by Soviet Union and later upgraded to the present capacity by Russia.[10] The two power houses have a total capacity of 1325 MW. The left power house contain 3 x 108 MW and 2 x 126 MW Francis turbines while the right has 5 x 157 MW.[11]
Three additional power plants are on the two canals Nangal Hydel Channel and Anandpur Sahib Hydel Channel that originate from Nangal dam. Their generation capacities are: Ganguwal - 77.65 MW, Kotla - 77.65 MW and Anandpur - 134 MW.[12][13][14]
Fishing
Gobind Sagar Lake (Bhakra Dam Reservoir)
The Gobind Sagar reservoir is home to many fish species including endangered Mahseer. Commercial fishing in the reservoir is a source of revenue for the local population.
Management
Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) was constituted in 1966 for the administration, maintenance and operation of Bhakra Nangal Project from 1 October 1967. It manages the operation of both the dams. Its members are appointed by the government of India and by the states of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, and Union territories of Delhi, and Chandigarh. Bhakra Management Board was renamed Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) on 15 May 1976 to also manage dams on the river Beas. Since then the Bhakra Beas Management Board is engaged in the regulation of the supply of water and power from Bhakra Nangal Project and Beas Projects to the states of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, and Chandigarh government.
Being the second largest dam in India after Tehri Dam, it attracts a large number of tourists who visit its reservoir and attractive location. However, for security reasons, visitors to Bhakra-Nangal Dam has been banned since Board (BBMB) are also run the Bhakhra Tourism Railway run on narrow gauge railway line just like Darjeeling himalayan railway, from bhakhra dam to nangal dam. There are 8 railway stations and traveling is absolutely free.
Displacement of People
The large reservoir created by the dam displaced a large population from the district of Bilaspur. About 371 villages were submerged. After 50 years of its completion, there is still a question of full resettlement of oustees.[16]
1 2 Guha, Ramachandra (2022). India after Gandhi: the history of the world's largest democracy (10th anniversary edition, updated and expanded, first published in hardcovered.). New Delhi: Picador India. ISBN978-93-82616-97-9.
The Beas River is a river in north India. The river rises in the Himalayas in central Himachal Pradesh, India, and flows for some 470 kilometres (290 mi) to the Sutlej River in the Indian state of Punjab. Its total length is 470 kilometres (290 mi) and its drainage basin is 20,303 square kilometres (7,839 sq mi) large.
The Ravi River is a transboundary river crossing northwestern India and eastern Pakistan. It is one of five rivers associated with the Punjab region.
Una district is a district in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. Una shares its border with the Hoshiarpur and Rupnagar districts of Punjab and Kangra, Hamirpur, and Bilaspur districts of Himachal Pradesh. The terrain is generally plain with semi hills.
The Satluj River is the longest of the five rivers that flow through the historic crossroads region of Punjab in northern India and Pakistan. The Sutlej River is also known as Satadru. It is the easternmost tributary of the Indus River. The Bhakra Dam is built around the river Sutlej to provide irrigation and other facilities to the states of Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana.
Bilaspur is a town and a municipal council in Bilaspur district in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.
Bilaspur is a district of Himachal Pradesh, India. Its capital is in the town of Bilaspur. The district has an area of 1,167 km2, and a population of 381,956. As of 2011 it is the third least populous district of Himachal Pradesh, after Lahul and Spiti and Kinnaur.
The state of Himachal Pradesh is spread over an area 55,673 km2 (21,495 sq mi) and is bordered by Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh on the north, Punjab on the southwest, Haryana on the south, Uttarakhand on the southeast, a small border with Uttar Pradesh in the south, and Tibet on the east. Entire Himachal Pradesh lies in the mountainous Himalaya region, rich in natural resources
Nangal is a town, near city of Rupnagar in Rupnagar district in Punjab, India. It is the birthplace of rapper Shubh
Bhakra may refer to:
Maharana Pratap Sagar, also known as Pong Reservoir or Pong Dam Lake is a large reservoir in Fatehpur, Jawali and Dehra tehsil of Kangra district of the state of Himachal Pradesh in India. It was created in 1975, by building the highest earthfill dam in India on the Beas River in the wetland zone of the Siwalik Hills. Named in the honour of Maharana Pratap (1540–1597), the reservoir or the lake is a well-known wildlife sanctuary and one of the 49 international wetland sites declared in India by the Ramsar Convention. The reservoir covers an area of 24,529 hectares, and the wetlands portion is 15,662 hectares.
Gobind Sagar Lake is a reservoir situated in Una and Bilaspur districts of Himachal Pradesh, India. It is formed by the Bhakra Dam.
The Indian state Himachal Pradesh has a large number hydroelectricity resources, about twenty five percent of the national potential. About 27,436 MW of hydroelectric power can be generated in the state by the construction of various hydroelectric projects on the five perennial river basins. Out of total hydroelectric potential of the state, 10,519 MW is harnessed so far, out of which 7.6% is under the control of Himachal Pradesh Government while the rest is exploited by the Central Government. The state government has been giving the highest priority for its development, since hydroelectric generation can meet the growing need of power for industry, agriculture and rural electrification. It is also the biggest source of income to the state as it provides electricity to other states.
Himachal Pradesh provides water to both the Indus and Ganges basins. The drainage systems of the region are the Chenab, the Ravi, the Beas, the Satluj and the Yamuna. These rivers are perennial and are fed by snow and rainfall. They are protected by an extensive cover of natural vegetation.
Rihand Nagar is a township, named after the Rihand River, a tributary of the Sone River. It is located near Bijpur and lies in the Sonebhadra district of Uttar Pradesh. This township is situated near the border of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh in India. This township has been developed by National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) under its Power Project Scheme, wherein it established a coal-based power station of 3000 MW capacity.
Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) is the electricity generating and distributing company of the Government of Punjab state in India. It was formerly known as Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) which was unbundled by the government of Punjab into two companies on 16 April 2010 as Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd. (POWERCOM) and Punjab State Transmission Corporation Ltd. (TRANSCO).
The Koldam Hydropower Station, commonly known as Koldam, is an embankment dam on the Sutlej River upstream of the Dehar Power House. It is 18 km from Bilaspur off the Chandigarh-Manali Highway (NH-21) near Barmana, Himachal Pradesh, India. The main purpose of the dam is hydroelectric power generation and it will support an 800 MW power station. The dam was constructed by NTPC Limited.
The Pandoh Dam is an embankment dam on the Beas River in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh, India. Under the Beas Project, the dam was completed in 1977 and its primary purpose is hydroelectric power generation. Part of a run-of-the-river power scheme, it diverts the waters of the Beas to the southwest through a 38 km (24 mi) long system of tunnels and channels. The water is used for power generation at the Dehar Power House before being discharged into the Sutlej River, connecting both rivers. The power house has an installed capacity of 990 MW. The system diverts 256 cumecs of Beas waters to the Satluj River. The project was completed in 1977.
The Pong Dam, also known as the Beas Dam, is an earth-fill embankment dam on the Beas River in the state of Himachal Pradesh, India, just upstream of Talwara. The purpose of the dam is water storage for irrigation and hydroelectric power generation. As the second phase of the Beas Project, construction on the dam began in 1961 and was completed in 1974. At the time of its completion, the Pong Dam was the tallest of its type in India. The lake created by the dam, Maharana Pratap Sagar, became a renowned bird sanctuary.
Jahu is a village panchayat in Bhoranj tehsil, of the Hamirpur district, Himachal Pradesh, India. Jahu is on a trijunction of Hamirpur, Bilaspur and Mandi districts.
SJVN, formerly known as Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam, is an Indian public sector undertaking involved in hydroelectric power generation and transmission. It was incorporated in 1988 as Nathpa Jhakri Power Corporation, a joint venture between the Government of India and the Government of Himachal Pradesh. The company has a total operating hydropower capacity of 1912 MW through its two hydropower plants—Nathpa Jhakri and Rampur. In addition, it has an installed capacity of 97.6 MW of wind power and 81.9 MW of solar power.
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