Introduction of Hirakud Dam
Hirakud Dam Project is built across river Mahanadi at about 15 Kms. upstream of Sambalpur town in State of Odisha. This happens to be the first post independence major multipurpose river valley project in India. The dam is 6 Kms from NH 6 . The nearest rail head is Hirakud railway station (S.E.R) which is 8 Kms from the dam site. The project provides 1,55,635 Hects of Kharif and 1,08,385 Hects of Rabi irrigation of Sambalpur, Bargarh, Bolangir, and Subarnpur. The water released through power house irrigates further 436000 Hects of CCA in Mahanadi delta. Installed capacity for power generation in 307.5 MW through its two power houses at Burla , at the right bank to and Chiplima , at 22 Kms down stream of dam . Besides the project provides flood protection to 9500 sq Kms of delta area in district of Cuttack and Puri.
History of Hirakud Dam
After high floods of 1937, Sir M. Visveswararya gave proposal for detailed investigation for storage reservoirs in Mahanadi basin to tackle problem of floods in Mahanadi delta, In 1945, it was decided under the chairmanship of Dr. B.R.Ambedkar, the then Member of Labour in Govt. of India that the potentialities of river Mahanadi should be fruitfully and expenditiously investigated for multipurpose use. Central Water- ways Irrigation and Navigation Commission took up the work. The foundation stone of Hirakud Dam was laid by Sir Howthrone Lewis, the then Governor of Odisha on 15th March 1946. The project report was submitted to Government in June 1947. The first batch of concrete was laid by Pandit Jawaharalal Neheru on 12th April 1948. The project was formally inaugurated by Prime Minister Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru on 13th, January 1957. Power generation along with supply for irrigation started progressively from 1956 and full potential was achieved by 1966.
Project Features of Hirakud Dam
Hirakud dam is a composite structure of Earth, Concrete and Masonry. The main dam having an overall length of 4.8 K.m. spans between hills Lamdungri on left hand Chandili Dunguri on the right. The Dam is flanked by 21 K.Ms. long earthen dykes both on left and right sites to close the low suddles beyond the abutment hills. It has the distinction of being the longest dam in the world, being 25.8 K.Ms. long with dam and dykes taken together. It has also the rare distinct of forming the biggest artificial lake in Asia with reservoir spread of 743 sq Kms at full reservoir level. Hirakud dam intercepts 83400 sq. km (32200 sq miles) of Mahanadi catchments. The reservoir has a storage of 5818 M. Cum with gross of 8136 M Cum. The Completed Cost of the Project was Rs.100.02 crores (in 1957
Salient Features of Hirakud Dam
| Hirakud Dam | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Official name | Hirakud Dam |
| Location | 15 km from Sambalpur, Odisha |
| Coordinates |  21.57°N 83.87°ECoordinates: 21.57°N 83.87°E |
| Construction began | 1948 |
| Opening date | 1957 |
| Construction cost | 101 Crore Rs in 1957 |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Type of dam | Composite Dam and Reservoir |
| Height | 60.96 m (200 ft) |
| Length | 4.8 km (3 mi) (main section) 25.8 km (16 mi) (entire dam) |
| Impounds | Mahanadi |
| Spillways | 64 sluice-gates |
| Spillway capacity | 42,450 cubic metres per second (1,499,000 cu ft/s) |
| Reservoir | |
| Capacity | 5,896,000,000 m3 (4,779,965 acre·ft) |
| Catchment area | 83,400 km2 (32,201 sq mi) |
| Power station | |
| Turbines | Power House I (Burla): 3 x 37.5 MW, 2 x 24 MW Kaplan-type Power House II (Chiplima): 3 x 24 MW |
| Installed capacity | 307.5 MW |
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