Major Water Resources Development Projects
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The development of water resources projects in the
A remarkable work that includes many great civil engineering
structures is the At the time of commencement of UGC Project, there was no science of soil mechanics and hydraulic engineering was also in its primitive stages. There was no existing large extensive canal system in the country and the world by that time. In formulation and execution of the project and in projecting the layout and design of main canal and its major structures, Sir Proby Cautley adopted the simple scheme of taking the help of nature and maintaining a compromising attitude, specially in taking the canal across the powerful streams and rivers coming in the alignment and also used his engineering skill in producing simple and bold designs with locally available material (brick, lime and surkhi). Although in the first project report, UGC was proposed as a navigation canal, finally it was constructed as an irrigation canal. UGC draws its supply from the
The reach of the canal from the head works to 32nd
km may well be classified among the greatest feats of irrigation engineering in
At the 21st km, the Ratmau
torrent is passed across the canal, being admitted directly into the channel on
one side and escaped again through a weir. At the 30th km comes the Solani aqueduct which is the finest work on the canal (see
Figure 8.13). Solani aqueduct was constructed with
the special inspiration of the great work of Alcantara
aqueduct in It cannot, however, be pretended that the design of UGC was
perfect by any means. Indeed no sooner was the full supply of the channel first
admitted, several serious faults became apparent. In many places, the bed slope
was too steep, the masonry falls generated excessive
velocities below them, causing heavy scour in bed and banks, and the general
layout of the distributary system had some drawbacks.
Considerable amount of remodelling was necessary
before these defects were removed, but in other respects, the work even now
remains substantially as Cautley built it. Noteworthy
is the fact that at the time it was constructed, experience of artificial
canals was limited to works of only about a third the size of the The The command area of the system is located between 27° N
and 30°
N latitudes and 77°15’E
and 78°40’E
longitudes covering the districts of Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Ghaziabad,
Bulandshahar, Aligarh, Mathura, Agra, Etah, and Mainpuri. A major project to revitalize the head reaches of
the canal was completed in 2003. A parallel canal has been constructed upstream
of Roorkee and a new aqueduct has been constructed
over the A number of small rivers, such as Kali, Karwan,
Solani and
UGC system is fed through a headwork complex with a regulation
at Mayapur and a diversion weir at Bhimgoda across the Climatically the area belongs to a dry sub-humid to moist-humid category. The normal annual rainfall varies from 1050 mm in the north to 650 mm in the south. Around 90% of annual rainfall occurs in the monsoon season (June to October). The annual pan evaporation for the area is about 150 cm. The temperature varies from 3°C to 4°C in January to 43°C to 45°C in May or June. The scope of the system has been considerably altered since
it was first constructed. The Lower Ganga Canal (LGC)
which was opened in 1878, intersected by the main branches of the UGC, the Etawah and Kanpur branches and
the tail portions of these are now officially included in the LGC system. In
their place, however, three new important branches, the Deoband,
Mat branches have been added to UGC. In the length of its channels, the UGC is still largest in
There are many small
hydropower plants on UGC which utilize its falls to generate power. A
hydroelectric power station was built on the
The Rivers in many parts of
To irrigate the
lower portion of
The main canal is
100 km long and irrigates 0.5 million ha. The
The LGC system has
1,060 km of main canal and branches and 5,015 km of distributaries. In fact UGC
and LGC form a single system. A considerable proportion of channel comprised in
the lower system belonged originally to the upper and a supply of water is
regularly passed from the later to the former. Viewed in this light, the
The committee which
proposed the construction of LGC, also suggested that
a canal should be taken off from the Yamuna at or
near its junction with the Hindan river below
The canal was
constructed for a cold weather full supply discharge of 30.8
m3/s with a depth of 2.13 m and for a discharge of 56.0 m3/s
during the rainy season with a depth of 3.05 m, the width at the head being
21.4 m. It terminates at its 116th km at which point the Agra
Navigation channel, 25 km long, connected it with Yamuna
at
In the first 13 km
of its course, the canal crosses three important torrents, which bring down to
the Yamuna the drainage of the rocky hills on the
right bank of the canal. The floods from these hills rise rapidly but are of
short duration. To obviate the necessity of large drainage crossing,
embankments are provided for two of them on the right of the canal. These
reservoirs have storage of 4.5 MCM. The floods are received by them and the
water stored until it can be passed out gradually. The third torrent is carried
under the canal through a large siphon. The East Ganga Canal Project envisages the utilization of surplus water of the Ganga River during the Monsoon season from the existing Barrage at Bhimgoda Haridwar for providing irrigation to 105,000 ha of paddy crop, mainly in the Bijnor district (99.64 thousand ha), the Haridwar district (360 ha), and the Moradabad district (5,000 ha). The gross command area of the project is 3.01 lakh ha, out of which 2.33 lakh ha is cultivated. The proposed intensity of irrigation in Kharif is 45% which will produce an additional amount of 36.0 lakh quintals of paddy crop. Before introduction of this project, the area was being irrigated by
perennial supplies and by the The soil in the command of the The YAMUNA CANAL SYSTEMS
The Eastern
The earliest canals in The canal has its head on the Yamuna
on its eastern bank, a point not far from the head of the
The construction of the weir for the
Salient features of
Emperor Feroz Shah Tughlaq constructed the Western Yamuna
Canal (WYC) to divert water to the hunting grounds in Hansi-Safidon
area in Haryana in 1355 A.D. After the death of Emperor Tughlaq in 1388, the canal fell in disuse. Mughal Emperor Akbar got the canal renovated in 1568. It was further improved
by Emperor Shahjahan in 1628. Note that the Hasli canal was also constructed at the same time to bring The total length of the WYC with all its branches is 325 km.
In addition, there are about 32 distributaries and 95 minors, the combined
length of which is 1,220 km. To augment
canal supplies and prevent water logging in adjacent tract, a large number of augmentation
wells were constructed along WYC. Further, to prevent seepage losses along WYC
and to further augment its supply, a lined augmentation canal, 69 km in length
was constructed recently, taking off from Yamuna Nagar and out falling in WYC at Munak.
Heavy-duty wells constructed along this canal direct about 14-15 cumec of ground water to surface water canal system. In
addition, there are similar augmentation wells constructed along In the entire reach between Tajewala to Wazirabad the river behaves as a mature river and meanders within the flood plains, the width of which increases as the slope decreases. The maximum width of the flood plain is around 3 km. In order to protect the habitations and cultivated area from flood protection, embankments have been constructed along the river, more of them along the right bank. Ground Water SituationThe area of mountainous sub-basin is underlain by Siwalik and older formations which are semi-consolidated and consolidated in nature and are composed of sand rocks, shale and boulder conglomerates. These are poor repositories of ground water and effectively make no ground water contribution to sub-basin. The plain tract lying south of the Siwalik zone forms a part of Indo-Gangetic alluvial plains of recent origin. The thickness of the alluvial deposit (as deduced from geophysical evidence) is small along the fringe of peninsular mass but progressively increases towards northwards and is maximum in the foredeep area lying immediately south of the Himalayan zone. The alluvial plains are underlain by loose unconsolidated river borne sediments and form very good repository of ground water. Below a particular level, not far below the land surface, the alluvium is saturated with ground water. Water table occurs between 10 to 60 m BGL in the sub-mountainous tract but generally lies between 3 m to 10 m BGL in rest of the area. The aquifer system lying closest to the land surface is in unconfined condition. At deeper levels, particularly below regionally or sub-regionally extensive poorly permeable layers, the ground water occurs in semi-confined to confined conditions. It is expected that with increasing depth, the alluvium could get more and more consolidated because of the increasing over burden and hence have reduced porosity and permeability. The unconfined aquifer, which is quite potential, generally bears an effluent relation with the surface drainage.Major Aquifer systemsAquifers
have been demarcated in this area based on exploratory drilling and bore-hole
logging. Except in areas close to
|
Parameter |
Gen. Range |
Average Values |
Aquifer Group – 1 |
||
Transmissivity (m2 /day) |
800 –5,210 |
2,200 |
Lateral Hydraulic Conductivity ‘K’ (m/day) |
14-47 |
24 |
Specific yield (Sy)% |
6-24 |
12 |
Aquifer Group – 2 |
||
Transmissivity (m2 /day) |
750-1,050 |
700 |
Lateral Hydraulic Conductivity ‘K’ (m/day) |
4-11 |
7.2 |
Storativity |
5.6x10-4 to
1.7x10-3 |
1.0 x 10-3 |
Specific yield (Sy)% |
3.35x10-4 to
2.7x10-3 |
1.9 x 10-3 |
Aquifer Group – 3 |
||
Transmissivity (m2 /day) |
345-830 |
525 |
Lateral Hydraulic Conductivity ‘K’ (m/day) |
3.5-10.7 |
7.1 |
Storativity |
6.6 x 10-4 to
2.4 x 10-4 |
4.5 x 10-4 |
AG3 is underlain, in turn, by a thick clayey horizon which in turn is underlain by another permeable granular horizon. Aquifer Group 4 was not fully penetrated.
The area between the
In general in the submontaneous tract and the areas along the major canals and part of the central area in the south, AG1 has potentiometric head of 0 to 4 m above the AG2. All the observations fit well with the fact that both AG1 and AG2 receive recharge in Bhabhar tract and areas along the major canals and discharge the same to Yamuna drainage.
In major part of the area between the canals, AG3 and AG4 have a higher head over AG2. However, only in southern parts of AG3 and AG4 are likely to provide leakage to AG2 above. The study of daily hydrographs of river levels along with those of ground water levels in the river tract for one year indicate a general sympathetic behavior and a good hydraulic connectivity of the river with ground water storage along the banks. It was concluded from the study that influent -effluent relation of river with the areas in immediate vicinity of the two banks changes with places and times and may not always coincide with the regional relation of ground water body with the river, on either bank.
The soils in sub-mountainous region are classified as
reddish soils. South of this zone roughly up to Panipat
the soils are classified as 'Tropical Arid Brown'. In area south of Panipat the soils are arid brown soils. The soils in the
basin, west of
The area is predominantly an agricultural tract, with about 76% area under cultivation. The major crops grown in the area are wheat (58% area), rice (20% area), Gram (10% area), Maize (13% area), Jowar (4% area), Barely (3% area), Bajra (7% area), and sugar cane (19% area).
The sanction of the estimate of the Betwa canal in 1881 marked the opening of yet another and a very important era in the history of irrigation works in India, namely the era of protective works or the works designed primarily for the protection, of precarious areas against famine, the direct return obtainable from them being the secondary consideration.
The Betwa canal was the first
protective work in
The head works of the canal are situated on the
The main canal is 30 km long. At its termination it bifurcates into Hamirpur and Kathound Branches. In 1904-05, the Kathound branch was remodelled to carry discharge of 17.0 m3/s. But the greatest weakness of the canal lay in the general inefficiency of its cold weather supply and in 1905 works was commenced on the construction of a supplementary reservoir at Dhukwan 40 km above the Parichha. The Dhukwan weir is 1,196 km long and has maximum height of 17.4 m. The work was completed in the year 1910.
The Dhasan and Bearma
are tributaries of Betwa, flowing from the east. The
canal lies in Hamirpur district between a triangular area made by above rivers. The project was sanctioned in
1905. Two dams have been constructed upon
The Dhasan canal has a head discharge of 20 cumec and a bed width of 13.7 m. With its 3 branches, it has a total length of 170 km and feeds 300 km of distributaries. There is only one masonry work of importance on the main line the Kohina Nala aqueduct. The canal was opened for irrigation in 1910.
To irrigate the watershed between the Ken and the Bhagin, the Ken canal has been constructed. It was sanctioned in 1903 and came into operation in 1908. It consists primarily of a weir across the Ken at Bariarpur, some 100 km south of Banda, a main canal 59 km long, and two branches with a connected distributory system.
The Bariarpur weir has a crest length of 512 m and a maximum height of 8.0 m above the solid rock on which it is founded. The weir is capable of impounding 14 MCM of water. The canal takes off direct from this reservoir and is designed to carry a normal supply 22.5 cumec, which can be increased to 28 cumec at time of intense demand. The steep slope of the country necessitated a large number of masonry falls – there are 22 such falls in the first 13 km of the main canal. Two principal works for cross drainage being Majhgawan and Mawapura aqueduct.
To supplement the supply in canals, the Gangao
dam has been constructed. This dam is situated on the
Construction of the Ghagar canal was commenced near the end of 1912 and
completed in 1918. The main feature of the scheme is the masonry dam at Dhandraul, which has been constructed across a gorge where
Two low saddles in
the hills provide means of escape with their crests at the full supply level of
the lake while the third, which forms the main escape
is divided into 12 bays each of 6.1 m span. A supplementary dam, 152 m long and
13.7 m high, on the neighbouring
The scheme consists of two parts: the Sarda
canal proper and the Sarda Kichcha
Feeder which leaves it at about 11 km. The former comprises a comprehensive
project for irrigation of the north western district of Oudh,
while the latter assures a supply to the extension of the existing Rohilkhand canals. The head works and the first 11 km of
the canal are common to both. Thereafter, the Sarda
canals runs in a southerly direction, while the feeder flows through the Tarai, the low-lying land at the foot of
The head works of the combined project are situated on the
The Sarda canal proper, below bifurcation consists of main canal with a length of 28.15 km, after which it bifurcates into three branches. The project comprises 769.10 km of main canal and branches, 5,422.33 km of distributaries and 160.90 km of escapes or 6,352.33 km of channel in all.
The Upper Sarda Barrage is located in Banbassa of Nainital district for purpose of directing water in Sarda main canal for irrigation and power generation. Design flood discharge was 16,900 m3/s. Length of barrage is 598 m and it has 4 under sluice bays. The barrage was completed in 1928.
The 1920 Sarda river agreement
between the British Indian Government and
The
The Tehri dam project was first
conceived in 1949 and was sanctioned by the Planning Commission of India in
1972 when approval of the
proposal for a 260.5 m rock-filled dam at Tehri was
given in. Tehri dam is located on the outer
The average river flows in the
A 260.5 m (above the deepest foundation) high earth and rockfill dam creating a live storage of 2615 Mm3.
An underground powerhouse of 1,000 MW (4 x 250 MW) with conventional turbine generating units.
Another underground powerhouse of 1,000 MW (4 x 250 MW) with reversible pump turbine set (pumped storage plant).
A 103.5 m high concrete dam (which will function as a balancing reservoir) with a surface power house of 400 MW (4 x 100 MW) at Koteshwar about 20 km downstream of Tehri dam.
A
transmission system for evacuation of power generated at Tehri and Koteshwar through
765 kV lines to
Salient features of the Tehri Dam Project
Reservoir |
|
M.W.L. |
835 m |
F.R.L. |
830 m |
Dead Storage Level |
740 m |
Gross Storage |
3,540 MCM |
Live Storage |
2,615 MCM |
Main Dam |
|
Type |
Earth & Rockfill |
Top Level |
839.50 m |
Height |
260.50 m above deepest foundation level |
Width at river bed |
1,141 m |
Length and width at top |
575 m, 20 m, Flared 25 m on abutments |
Diversion Tunnel |
|
Type |
Horse Shoe |
On |
2 number, 11.30 m dia, 1,774 & 1,778 m long |
On |
2 number, 11.30 m dia, 1,298 & 1,429 m long |
Diversion Flood |
8,120 Cumec |
Spillway |
|
(A) Chute Spillway |
|
Crest Elevation |
815.00 m |
Design Discharge |
15,480 Cumec |
No. & Size of Bays |
3, 10.50 m each |
(B) |
|
Crest Elevation |
830.20 m |
Design Discharge |
3,879 Cumec |
Intake Type |
2 Number, Ungated Funnel Shaped |
(C) Left Bank Shaft Spillway |
|
Crest Elevation |
815.00 m |
Design Discharge |
3,750 Cumec |
Intake Type |
2 Nos. Gate Weir type Intake |
Power House (Underground 2 Number) |
|
Installed Capacity |
2,000 MW |
Conventional Units |
4 X 250 MW |
Reversible Units |
4 X 250 MW |
Design Head |
231.5 m |
Gross Head |
188 m |
Head Race Tunnel |
4 Number, 8.50 m dia |
The project would generate about 4,300 million units of energy
on the 90% dependable water availability and about 5,000 trillion units on the
average water availability. The peak load power generation is 2,400 MW.
Besides, the project will provide irrigation facilities to 2.7 lakh ha of area in the command of existing canal systems
off taking from the
The Tehri dam project area is
seismically active and falls in Zone-IV of the seismic zoning map of
The catchment area at the dam site is 7,511 sq. km. Out of this 2,323 sq. km is snow bound. This catchment varies in elevation from 9,600 m to 600 m in a length of 187 km. The valley is narrow and moderately forested. The catchment area below the perpetual snow line (4,880 m) is divided into following the three types:
Agriculture land (1,240 sq. km).
Soyam land lying between the above two types being mainly used by villagers for cattle grazing, etc. (1,500 sq. km).
The spread of Tehri dam reservoir
will be about 42 sq. km at the full reservoir level of 830 m. The length of
reservoir along the
The snow-bound catchment has little rainfall but it contributes runoff in non-monsoon period due to snow melt. The rest of the catchment has the annual precipitation varying from 101.6 to 263.0 cm. More than eighty percent of the annual precipitation occurs during the monsoon period causing occasional floods. These floods often cause soil erosion bringing heavy sediment loads in the river. The river discharge at the dam site generally varies from 30 to 2,000 cumec, the minimum being in January and the maximum in August.
The probable maximum flood (PMF) has been worked out at 15,540 cumec which corresponds to a frequency of 1 in 10,000 years and has been adopted as the design flood. The routed discharge for which spillway structures have been designed has been worked out to be about 13,100 cumec.
Opposition to the Tehri dam began in 1976 when the Anti-Tehri Dam Committee was formed by local opponents mainly in respect of the question of displacement, compensation and rehabilitation. The opposition on environmental grounds came in prominence in 1978 when a massive landslide dam-burst occurred in the upper catchment of the river producing devastating floods to some distance downstream of the dam site. A social activist, Mr. Sunderlal Bahuguna was the leader of this movement which led to the establishment of a governmental working group for the assessment of the environmental impact of the proposed dam.
The report of the governmental working group further
stressed the issue of seismicity in the Himalayan
region as a major factor to be considered for dam safety. In 1990 a more
detailed investigation was undertaken by the Environmental Appraisal Committee
(EAC) of the Ministry of Environment. Three important factors that were
examined by the committee were: compensation and resettlement for the
involuntarily displaced population, siltation and
economic life of the dam, and the seismic risk associated with large dams in
the tectonically active
Intense public debate on the Tehri
dam has centered around seismicity
and dam safety in
The opposition to
the Tehri dam began on the question of displacement
and compensation for the affected people and constructing a dam in earthquake
prone Himalayan region (Valdiya 1991). But it grew
beyond the resettlement and safety aspects and later ecological and
environmental issues dominated the debate. A wide range of literature on the
broad policy issues has been generated by the Tehri
Dam debate (Bandyopadhyay, 1990) and some of this
could be a rich information base for future projects. In this way, it can serve
as a vital information base and important background for the evolution of
overall policy guidelines for decision making on other big dams proposed in the
The possibility of occurrence of an earthquake of
magnitude 7.0 or higher on Richter Scale in the Himalayan region has been widely accepted. On
the basis of the risk associated with possible damage from earthquakes, the
wisdom behind the decision in favour of the
construction of large dams in the
With the closure
of tunnels in Oct. 2005, first filling of the reservoir commenced. Trial run of
the turbines of the power house was conducted in March 2006.
Lakhwar Dam
The Lakhwar dam site is proposed on the Yamuna River at latitude 80° 31' 3" N and longitude, 77° 56' 58" E in the Dehradun district of Uttaranchal, about 2 km south-west of the Lakhwar village, which is about 28 km upstream of the Dak Pathar Barrage.
Initially in 1967 it was envisaged to construct a 176 m high concrete gravity dam at Lakhwar and an underground power house on the right bank of the river with an installed capacity of 158 MW. Along with this, another auxiliary project involving construction of 60 m high concrete gravity dam at Vyasi was also envisaged. But in December 1972 the proposal was modified and now the plan is to construct:
A 192
m high concrete cored gravity dam across the
An auxiliary cored concrete gravity dam, 5 km downstream of Lakhwar, at the Vyasi with a height of 58 m from its deepest foundation level. From this dam water will be conducted through twin power tunnels to a surface powerhouse at Hathiari with an installed capacity of 240 MW.
The discharge released from the Hathiari powerhouse will be balanced by a proposed barrage at Katapathar 2.25 km downstream of the Hathiari powerhouse.
The entire Lakhwar Vyasi Scheme is divided into two stages. The first stage
involves the Lakhwar dam and the Lakhwar
underground powerhouse, while the 2nd stage involves the Vyasi dam, Hathiari powerhouse,
and Katapathar barrage. The National Hydroelectric
Power Corporation will be constructing
the project.
However, preparation of DPR for the project is stalled for want of consent of
the Govt. of UP & NCT of
Vishnuprayag hydroelectric project
on
The Ramganga dam on the tributary
by the same name has created a reservoir at Kalagarh
with a live storage capacity of 2,190 million m3. The Ramganga dam is situated about 3 km upstream of the Kalagarh village, 45
km from Dhampur, Bijnor
District, Uttar Pradesh. It is about 110 km to the
North East of the
Two earthen dams,
one 125.6 m high on the main
The Ramganga Reservoir creates a
lake submerging 55 sq. km in the famous
The multipurpose project has brought in additional benefits of flood control and power
generation. The existing resources of power in western U.P. are the
hydroelectric power stations located on falls on the
The water available for utilization from the Ramganga reservoir is estimated to be 0.215 M ha-m annually. With this water, 5.75 lakh hectares of additional land can be brought under
irrigation by means of a network of canals. This added irrigation has improved
agriculture in 14 districts of U.P. and three lakh
tons of additional food grains are being produced annually. It has provided
substantial flood protection to the districts of
The Ramganga Project has provided irrigation to new areas and has increased the firm power available in the combined Ganga-Sarda-Yamuna Ramganga grid. A powerhouse with an installed capacity of 198 MW comprising 3 units of 66 MW each is located at the toe of the dam. With mean annual inflow of 2,683 MCM, the project has a firm power of 38 MW. Ramganga power house, in conjunction with the existing Ganga-Sarda grid, the Yamuna stage I and II and existing thermal power station, is expected to increase the firm power of the grid by 82.25 MW. The Ramganga powerhouse output is nearly 450 million units of power per year.
Irrigation outlets have also been provided for emergency
when the powerhouse is not functioning and irrigation demands have to be met.
The water released from the powerhouse flows down the Ramganga
for 25.6 km. It is diverted into a feeder channel at Harevelli
where a 416.3 m long barrage has been constructed across the
The
Dhalipur Hydropower Plant
Dhalipur hydropower plant
is located on
Giri Diversion Project
Giri is a
diversion project on
Chibro Hydropower Project
Chibro hydropower project
is located near Ichari diversion dam on
Khodri Power House
Downstream to Chibro is the Khodri power house, 52 km from Dehradun, in Dehradun District, Uttaranchal. The project uses the tail water of Chibro powerhouse (5.6 km upstream) for power generation. Khodri powerhouse has 4 units of 30 MW each and is able to generate a firm power of 51.5 MW. This project was commissioned in 1984.
Chilla Hydropower Project
Chilla hydropower project is located downstream of Pashulok diversion barrage on
Khara Hydropower House
Khara hydropower house is located on
Maneri Bhali-I Hydropower Project
Maneri Bhali I hydropower project comprises of 39 m high and 127 m long Maneri diversion dam on Bhagirathi River, 150 km from Rishikesh, in Uttarkashi District, Uttaranchal. The catchment area at the dam is 4,024 km2. The project was completed in 1984. A small reservoir with live storage capacity of 0.60 MCM has been created behind the dam. The power house has 3 units of 30 MW each which produce a firm power of 42 MW.
Tanakpur Barrage
Tanakpur Barrage was
constructed in 1992 on
Kishau Dam
Kishau
dam is proposed on the
The cost has been
estimated to be about Rs. 35,662 million (December
1998 price level). A provision of 372 MGD (about 1.7 million cubic m/day) has
been earmarked for
This dam is situated about 10 km from Kathgodam.
The proposed dam is 130.6 m high roller compact concrete structure. In the
first phase a barrage on the
The Rihand Dam was constructed on
the
The river above the dam site drains an area of 13,333 sq. km
and has a length of 257.50 km. The stream slopes down from an elevation of
about 915.50 m in the upper valley to 190.5 m at the dam site. The region is hilly and is covered with vegetation.
At Chopan in the Sonbhadra
district (U.P.), the
The reservoir can attain an MWL of 271.52 m during the passage of PMF of 13,339 cumec. The reservoir has a dead storage of 1,628.38 Mm3 below R.L. 236.22 m and a live storage of 8,979.94 Mm3 between R.L. 236.22 m and the FRL. Its water spread area is 469.40 sq. km at FRL which lies in both Uttar Pradesh (347 sq. km) and Madhya Pradesh (122 sq. km).
The average annual rainfall in the Rihand
basin is 1,422 mm while the average annual runoff is 475 mm. The
Although the original project envisaged generation of only hydroelectric power, these days the reservoir water is used mainly for the generation of thermal power as the coal is available in adjacent areas. The following thermal power stations have been installed at the periphery of the reservoir:
Anpara Super Thermal Power House of 2,000 MW,
Renu Sagar Power Station of 600 MW,
Shakti Nagar Super Thermal Power Station of 2,000 MW,
Vindhya Nagar Super Thermal Power Station of 2,000 MW, and
Rihand Nagar Super Thermal Power Station of 1,000 MW.
The reservoir is encroached upon by construction of several ash dykes and other structures near its periphery. Consequently, the capacity of the reservoir has reduced by 44.7 Mm3. Thus, the net original capacity of 10,563.62 Mm3 and the net live storage capacity of 8,979.94 Mm3 is available for regulation of water. The reservoir could be filled up to FRL only in the years 1964, 1971 and 1995 and it was well below FRL during the rest of the years. Consequent upon installation of several thermal power stations around the periphery, the reservoir level is now not allowed to fall below 252.98 m. Therefore, the new dead storage level is 252.98 m.
The provision of dead storage in the reservoir is made considering the sedimentation in 140 years of its operation. During this period, the live storage was expected to reduce from 8,979.94 Mm3 to 8,185.49 Mm3. However, the capacity survey of the reservoir carried out before the monsoon of 1995 indicates that the sediment deposition has reduced the live storage to 8,009.94 Mm3 in only 33 years of operation. This gives a sedimentation rate of 2,918 m3/sq. km/year against the assumed value of 904 m3/sq. km/year. The large difference in the assumed and the estimated rates is partly attributed to inaccuracies in the original capacity surveys.
Rajghat dam in Bundelkhand
region provides irrigation facilities for area in Uttar Pradesh and
The Halali dam, also known as Samrat Ashok Sagar
project, was constructed across the
Halali is a rolled-filled earthen dam, 945m
long with a maximum height of 29.57m above the foundation level. The catchment area of the project is 699 sq. km with a maximum
rainfall in the area as 1680 mm and the average rainfall of 1,108 mm. About 25%
of the catchment area is hilly and the rest is in
plains. The project envisages a gross command area of 374.19 sq km with CCA as
279.24 sq km. The intensity of irrigation in the command is 135%. The design
rate of sedimentation is 0.476 mm / year for gross storage. The top bund level
of the reservoir is fixed at 466.32 m and MWL is fixed at 464.19 m. The water
spread at FRL is 52.59 sq. km. The width of the earthen dam at its top is 4.57
m. Additional spillway with a 41.15m length is provided at RL 459.61 m.
Three important storage reservoirs constructed in the basin
include Gandhisagar, Jawaharsagar
and Rana Pratapsagar
cascade which provide a live storage of 8,500 million cubic m. The barrage at
Gandhisagar is the main storage
dam constructed across the
The Gandhisagar is the upper most dam in the series of three dams and a barrage of the Chambal Valley Project.
Catchment area intercepted up to various
structures
Name of Structures |
Catchment area (sq. km) |
Gandhisagar Dam |
23,025 |
Between
Gandhisagar & Ranapratap Sagar Dam
|
2,103 |
Between
Ranapratap Sagar Dam & Jawahar Sagar Dam |
2,054 |
Between Jawahar
Sagar Dam & Kota Barrage |
137 |
Total |
27,319 |
The live and dead reservoir storages provided for at planning stage were 6,910 Mm3 and 836 Mm3, respectively with a gross storage of 7,746 Mm3. The original reservoir submergence area at FRL was 680 sq. km.
The Gandhisagar dam was constructed in 1960 as a 64.63 m high straight gravity masonry dam 514 m long with a 182.93 m central spillway and five power blocks on its right along with non-overflow blocks at both flanks. The installed hydropower capacity is 115 MW and the irrigation potential created is 7.57 lakh ha. The dam is located at a latitude of 24o 44’ N, longitude of 75o 33’E, 8 km north-east of Bhanpura. The spillway section consists of 10 spans each of 18.3 m length and 9 sluice piers 7.927 m wide, accommodating 9 sluices of 3.05m x 7.62m each with their sill level at 363.872 m and steel crest gates 18.3m x 8.54m with crest at 391.46m. The discharging capacity of the spillway is 13,705 cumec at MWL. At the foot of the power intake is the power house which has five generating units. The gross storage capacity of the reservoir was assessed as 7,746 MCM at the time of first impounding.
The Full Reservoir Level (FRL) and the Maximum Water Level (MWL) of the dam is 400 m, and the Dead Storage Level (DSL) is 381.0 m. Sedimentation surveys were conducted in the reservoir area in 1975 and 1989. Surveys conducted in 1975 indicated a reduction of the gross capacity by 333 MCM over a period of 15 years. Those conducted in 1989 indicated a further reduction of 419 MCM in the gross storage.
A hydrographic survey using modern equipment was conducted during March-October, 2001 up to the maximum water level. The rate of sedimentation adopted at the project planning stage was 3.6308 ham/100 sq. km/year. However, the average rate of sedimentation during the first 41 years, on the basis of 2001 survey, works out to 5,508 ham/100 sq. km/year. The anticipated feasible life of the reservoir works out to be 125 years, as against the planning stage stipulation of 100 years.
The gross storage capacity of Gandhisagar dam was assessed from toposheets at the planning stage as 8450 M cu m, with full reservoir at 400 m. Subsequently, based on aerial photographs and contour surveys, the gross storage was refixed at 7,746 M cu m. In all subsequent publications, this value is considered as original gross capacity. The surveys conducted from time to time have indicated a progressive reduction of the storage capacity.
Storage in the Gandhisagar dam on various dates
|
Project Planning Stage |
1960-61 Reassessment |
1975 Resurvey |
1989 survey |
Gross Storage at FRL |
8,450 MCM |
7,746 MCM |
7,413 MCM |
7,323 MCM |
Live Storage |
7,620 MCM |
6,910 MCM |
6,827 MCM |
6,798 MCM |
Dead Storage |
830 MCM |
836 MCM |
586 MCM |
525 MCM |
Rana Pratap Sagar Dam
Rana Pratap
Sagar is a masonry gravity dam on
Jawahar Sagar Dam
Jawahar Sagar
is a straight gravity concrete dam on Chambal
downstream of Rana Pratap Sagar, 36 km from
The Chambal
Valley Project would provide water for both irrigation and industrial purposes
in the south eastern part of the State, primarily in the districts of
Name of canal |
Length (km) |
Design/head discharge |
CCA (ha) |
Design irrigated area (ha) |
Tehsil |
Right main canal |
179 |
110.40 |
68,400 |
47,800 |
Shopepur &
Vijapur |
Lower main canal |
53 |
53.80 |
29,200 |
20,300 |
Sabalgarh &
Joura |
Ambah branch canal |
171 |
35.40 |
132,100 |
92,500 |
Sabalgarh, Joura, Ambah & Bhind |
Morena branch canal |
38 |
14.20 |
48,600 |
34,100 |
Morena |
Asan outfall canal |
3 |
41.00 |
- |
- |
- |
Bhind main canal |
82 |
35.70 |
96,200 |
60,700 |
Gohad, Bhind &
Mehgaon |
Mau branch canal
|
48 |
9.90 |
40,100 |
28,100 |
Gohad |
Obra Dam
Obra is an earth and rockfill dam constructed across
Bansagar Tons
Bansagar Tons hydropower project
is located on Beehar barrage on
Bansagar Tons II and III
Bansagar Masonary gravity dam on
The Parbati dam is situated
across
The catchment and gross command area (GCA) of the Parbati project are approximately 780 sq. km and 325 sq. km, respectively. The project has a live storage capacity of 102.893 MCM as per the hydrographic survey carried out during the impounding year 1963. The length of the main canal is 58 km. The project command is restricted to main course on its southern side. The design rate of sedimentation is 0.157 mm/year.
Ramsagar Dam
The Ramsagar dam is situated
across the
The catchment and gross command area (GCA) of the Ramsagar project are approximately 176 sq. km and 62 sq. km, respectively. The project has a gross and live storage capacity of 30.83 and 29.39 MCM, respectively as per the hydrographic survey carried out during year 1905, which is the impounding year. The length of the main canal is 11.27 km. The design rate of sedimentation is 0.81 mm/year.
The Massanjore reservoir is
located on the
Forests constitute only 6% of the catchment area. The vegetation is generally limited to hill tops and slopes. About 44% of the catchment area comprises lands under paddy cultivation.
To control the
The Talaiya dam is a concrete gravity dam with a maximum height
of 30.2 m above the river bed. The spillway has 14 tainter
type crest gates of 3.05 m * 9.1 m, with a maximum discharge capacity of 3,852 cumec. Two modified butterfly type undersluice
gates 1 m high and 1.7 m wide with a discharge capacity of 14.2 cumec are provided in the body of the dam mainly to supply
irrigation water during dry season. The
power house is 41.5 m long 19.5 m wide and 22.6 m high and is located on the
left bank of the river. It consists of two of generating units of 2 MW capacity each with a provision for a third future unit of
the same capacity.
Completed in 1955 on a river with the same name, the Konar reservoir is located on the Konar River, a seasonal tributary of the Damodar River, about 30.6 km from its confluence with Damodar River in the district of Hazaribagh in Bihar. This dam was the second of the four dams which was completed in the first phase of development of DVC. The dam is primarily responsible for flood control and to supply cooling water to Bokaro thermal power station in the downstream.
The Konar earth and concrete dam has a catchment area of 997 km2 which comprises thick jungles, wastelands and cultivated areas. The total length of the dam was 4.00 km with earthern embankment flanked on either side of the concrete structure. At FRL, the reservoir has a capacity of 336.16 million m3 and a mean depth of 12.97 m. In the basin of the Konar reservoir, the main soil is sandy loam to clay with 0.3 to 0.9% of organic carbon.
The spillway was provided with 9 tainter
crest gated each of 10.4 m * 9.9 m. Two 2.3 m dia. undersluices were embedded in the body of the dam. The
spillway has a maximum capacity of 6,792 cumec. Two
power stations with a total capacity of 35 MW have been proposed.
iii. Maithon Reservoir
The Maithon dam is a concrete cum
earthen dam located on
|
Elevation (meters) |
Storage (Million cu m) |
Minimum draw down level |
132.62 |
165.30 |
Spillway crest |
140.24 |
397.29 |
Maximum conservation pool |
146.35 |
738.59 |
Maximum flood control pool |
150.91 |
1,120.30 |
Full and maximum pool |
152.44 |
1275.77 |
156.09 |
|
It can be seen that a separate storage is earmarked at the Maithon dam for flood control storage amounting to 539.39 million cu m (between EL 146.34 m to 152.44 m. The land has been acquired up to RL 150.91 m.
The Panchet dam, an earthen dam
with concrete spillway, was commissioned in 1958 on the
Salient features of Panchet Reservoir
|
Elevation (m) |
Storage (Million cu m) |
Minimum draw down level |
119.50 |
170.26 |
Spillway crest |
123.47 |
312.15 |
Maximum conservation pool |
125.00 |
392.36 |
Maximum flood control pool |
132.62 |
1,058.62 |
Full and maximum pool |
135.67 |
1,475.65 |
Top of dam |
139.33 |
|
At the Panchet dam also, flood control storage amounting to 1,083 million cubic m (between EL 125.0 m to 135.67 m) has been earmarked. The land acquisition has been made up to RL 129.57 m. Houses have been acquired up to RL 132.62 m at the Panchet.
Operation guidelines of the Maithon and Panchet Dams
The
conservation storage level for the Maithon and the Panchet is 146.34 m and 125 m, respectively. The operation
of the reservoirs during monsoon season below the conservation storage (i.e.,
146.34 m and 125 m) consists in releases to meet the downstream requirements.
The operation curves guide the flows such that on the first of October, the
reservoir will be at the monsoon storage level of 146.34 m for the Maithon and 125 m for the Panchet.
When the reservoir level rises or shows a tendency to rise above 146.34 m and
125 m for the Maithon and the Panchet
reservoirs, flood control operation commences and they shall cease as soon as
the level comes down to RL 146.34 m and 125 m.
As regards the operation of the Panchet reservoir, the reservoir may be drawn down to EL 119.51 m to meet the power requirements in June, when the monsoon flows arrive in June the reservoir will be, if at a lower level, allowed to build up to RL 121.95 m as quickly as possible after allowing releases for the essential downstream and power requirements.
On the 1st of July, the Panchet reservoir is to be kept as near to RL 121.5 m as possible for ensuring generation of hydro-electric power. The reservoir level shall be kept between curves A & B during July, August and closer to curve A during September and as far as possible at the monsoon storage level RL 125 m during October.
Guidelines for releases from the Maithon and Panchet dams taken together for flood control operations during June, July, August and September are:
Limit
the combined outflow to the safe limit indicated by the
Limit the combined outflow to 3,400 cumec (120,000 cusec) while using the combined flood reserve between 20% to 50%.
Limit the combined outflow to 4,534 cumec (160,000 cusec) while using the combined flood reserve between 50% to 70%.
Limit the combined outflow to 5,668 cumec (200,000 cusec) while using the combined flood reserve between 70% to 100%.
Balance outflow with inflow when all available combined flood reserve is used up, when the Maithon and Panchet reaches 150.91 m and 132.92 m, respectively, and the combined inflow is more than 5,667 cumec (200,000 cusec).
Emergency operation
Flood starts when 50% of the flood reserve is occupied.
Between 50% to 70% occupation, the inflow and outflow is balanced up to a maximum of 4,534 cumec (160,000 cusec).
Between 70% to 100% occupation, half inflow is released subject to a maximum of 7,085 cumec (250,000 cusec) and a minimum of 5,668 cumec (200,000 cusec).
At 100% occupation balance the outflow with inflow.
Dry weather operation: The water available from monsoon storage and dry season flows are utilized for meeting the committed requirements of Kharif, Rabi, Industrial and drinking water and hydro-electric power requirements.
Allocation of surplus, if any, after meeting the committed requirements will be made in November, the surplus water will be allocated for irrigating Bore paddy (Jan 21 to April 30), hydro-electric power and other requirements and a working table is prepared on the basis of allocation of waters for different uses. The reservoir is operated as per the working table.
Farakka is a gauging site very close to the
India-Bangladesh border. At Farakka the river has a
stable cross-section with a long history of monitoring. In Figure 8.6
information on the
annual volume of water flow of the
Near the Indo-Bangladesh border, a barrage has been
constructed at Farakka to divert water to the river
OTHER PROJECTS
In addition to the above there are several other reservoirs
in the basin. Some other important projects on the tributaries of the
Baigul (Sukhi)
is a small tributary of the
Baghla reservoir is a small
irrigation impoundment, created on the rivulet Barica
in 1952. Situated at a distance of 55 km southwest of
This is a proposed
project in Himachal Pradesh. The expected total cost
of the project is Rs.1,224.64 crore.
A provision of 275 MGD (about 1.25 million cubic m/day) has been earmarked for
Kosi is one of the highly
silt-laden rivers in the world. The resultant lateral migration of Kosi has caused considerable misery in
The Kosi, the Karnali and the Pancheshwar
projects are three mega projects which have received a lot of attention and
discussion over the past three decades. Of these, the Kosi
high dam is the oldest project, which was proposed by the Government of India
in 1950s. The project was originally proposed to have a 239 m high dam at Barakshetra in
The original Karnali dam
proposal suggested a height of 240 m for the dam and a power potential of 4,500
MW. The Himalayan Hydro Development Company (HHDC) in 1988 proposed raising
the height of the dam to 262 m so that the power potential might be increased
from 4,500 MW to 10,000 MW. Another suggestion by HHDC is to phase
the Karnali Project with an upstream run-of-the-river
hydroelectic project and storage development on the Bheri and Seti rivers, which are
tributaries of the Karnali. These supplements to the Karnali Project would generate an additional 5,400 MW of
electricity. The 1988 cost of the Karnali Project was
estimated at about US$ 4.4 billion; 95% of the power generated by the Karnali Project is to be exported to
The Pancheshwar project on the
The Gandak Project was designed
to irrigate 0.96 million ha in nine districts of
The Sarda canal provides
protective irrigation to nearly 0.6 million ha area. Some other major projects
under construction are Rajghat on the Betwa, Bansagar on the Sone and Lakhwar-Vyasi on the Yamuna. The National Hydroelectric Power Corporation is
running a 120 MW Tanakpur Project and also signed an
agreement with the Uttaranchal state
government for constructing an 850 MW BHEL project on the