Dams in Himachal Pradesh
Hydroelectricity is often used in union with dams. It is to produce electricity. A dam may also be used for the storage and collection of water and to distribute the same evenly wherever needed. The dams of the state of Himachal Pradesh are built with sole purpose of reigning in the floods and to generate electricity.
Dams in Himachal Pradesh have been constructed on various Indian rivers to serve many purposes. The major dams help in controlling flood and generating power. Some of the Dams in Himachal Pradesh are described below. The state of Himachal Pradesh boasts of main principal dams and reservoirs, in its state. They are the Bhgakra Nagal Dam, the Pandoh Dam, the Nathpa Dam ,the Chamera Dam, Gobind Sagar Reservoir and the Maharana Pratap Sagar Reservoir.
Famous Dams in state :
The Bhakra Dam
The Bhakra Dam is the most important dam of the state of Himachal Pradesh. But the benefits of this dam are enjoyed by the states of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan the three states of India. The name derived from the names of two rivers namely the Bhakra and the Sutlej. The project is built on the tributary of the River Indus, the Sutlej. The Bhakra Nangal Project related to the dam received its name from the 2 dams namely, Bhakra and Nangal, built on a tributary of the Indus River, Sutlej. Nangal Dam is located downstream of Bhakra Dam. Gobind Sagar is a man-made reservoir of Bhakra Nangal Dam on the Sutlej River. It has been named after Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th Sikh guru.
Bhakra Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Sutlej River in Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh in northern India. The dam forms the Gobind Sagar reservoir. The dam, located at a gorge near the (now submerged) upstream Bhakra village in Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh of height 226 m. The length of the dam (measured from the road above it) is 518.25 m and the width is 9.1 m. Its reservoir known as "Gobind Sagar" stores up to 9.34 billion cubic metres of water. In terms of quantity of water, it is the third largest reservoir in India, the first being Indirasagar dam in Madhya Pradesh with capacity of 12.22 billion cu m and second Nagarjunasagar Dam.
The Pandoh Dam
The Pandoh Dam is a diversion dam built on the River Beas at Pandoh in the district of Mandi, in the state of Himachal Pradesh. The dam is about 21 KM east of the Mandi Kullu Road. This dam is constructed out of earth and rock and it is about 76 metres high and generates about 165 MW of electricity.
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 (9000 cusecs) of Beas waters to the Satluj River. The project was completed in 1977.
Nathpa Jhakri Dam
The Nathpa Dam is also in the state of Himachal Pradesh. The work of this dam is to store water and provide hydro energy. The Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam is sponsoring this hydro electric project, at the Nathpa Dam. It is made known that the dam is a only an ordinary river venture which is handicapped to meet the obligatory peaking power demand. The investors of the project, are the Nathpa Jhakri Power Corporation, Kvaerner, AAB, Seimens, Sulzer Eschar Wyss, Impregilo Foundation Corporation (Construction) and BHEL.
The Nathpa Jhakri Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Sutlej river in Himachal Pradesh, India. The primary purpose of the dam is hydroelectric power production and it supplies a 1,500 megawatts (2,000,000 hp) underground power station with water. Before reaching the power station, water is diverted through a 27.4 km (17 mi) headrace tunnel. Construction on the project began in 1993 and it was complete in 2004. The last two of the 250 megawatts (340,000 hp) Francis turbine-generators went online in March 2004. It is owned by SJVN Ltd.
The Chamera Dam
The Chamera Dam is on the River Ravi. It is falling under the jurisdiction of the district, of the state of Himachal Pradesh. The first stage of the dam provides about 540 MWs of energy. The second stage is expected to provide about 300 MWs of power.
The dam is built at an altitude of about 892 metres above sea level. It is at distance of 36 KM away from the place. One may watch the dam’s high water level ups and downs, from the months of April, May and June.
The temperature around this time of the year descends to 19 degrees centigrade in around the Chamera Dam. During December, the temperature here goes downwards. It is about below degrees centigrade.
The catchment area circles around 472.5 square Km and the area possesses a power house, having three units that provide about 180 MWs of energy each. The visitors come to this dam’s lake mainly to experience the sparkling water of the Chamera. There are varied types of water sports. They play an important role in the lake area.
Govind Sagar reservoir
The Govind Sagar Reaservoir, is a man – made reservoir on the Sutlej River. It is in the district of Bilaspur. This is a massive hydro dam at Bhakra and is named so to honour Guru Gobind Singh the 10th Sikh guru. It is the world’s highest and magnitudinal dams.
Gobind Sagar is a man-made reservoir situated in Bilaspur District, Himachal Pradesh. It is formed by the Bhakra Dam.
The reservoir is on the river Sutlej and is named in honour of Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh guru. One of the world's highest gravity dams, the Bhakra dam rises nearly 225.5 m above its lowest foundations. Under the supervision of the American dam-builder, Harvey Slocum, work began in the year of 1955 and was completed in 1962. To maintain the level of water, the flow of river Beas was channelized to Gobind Sagar by the Beas-Sutlej link which was accomplished in 1976.
Koldam
The Koldam Dam is a hydro project of the NTPC Limited, commonly called Koldam.The project is under construction as wall dam, on the river Sutlej, close to Barmana. It is on the Chandigarh-Manali High way- NH 21, under jurisdiction of the district of Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh.The main purpose of this dam is to produce hydro energy. This project will provide 800 MWs power station.
The erstwhile Prime Minister, Shri A. B. Vajpayee laid the foundation on June 5th 2000. On January 14th 2004, work started on the dam. The project has been delayed relative to problems linked to habitation and forest destruction. The power generation was supposed to start from the year 2009. However, it has been postponed till 2013.About 66% of work is completed.
The Pong Dam
The Maharana Pratap Sagar Reservoir, in Kangra, which has alength measuring 42 KM and 2 Km in width. It provides varied water sport activities. Some of them are sailing, water skiing, rowing, surfing, kayaking and canoeing.List of other Dams in State.
Maharana Pratap Sagar , in India, also known as Pong Reservoir or Pong Dam Lake was created in 1975, by building the highest earthfill dam in India on the Beas River in the wetland zone of the Siwalik Hills of the Kangra district of the state of Himachal Pradesh. Named in the honour of Maharana Pratap (1540–1597), the reservoir or the lake is a well-known wildlife sanctuary and one of the 26 international wetland sites declared in India by the Ramsar Convention.
The reservoir covers an area of 24,529 hectares (60,610 acres), and the wetlands portion is 15,662 hectares (38,700 acres).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.
Dams are important because they provide water for domestic, industry and irrigation purposes. Dams often also provide hydroelectric power production and river navigation. Dams and their reservoirs provide recreation areas for fishing and boating. They help people by reducing or preventing floods.