Multipurpose Projects | Geography for UPSC CSE PDF Download

Damodar Valley Multipurpose Project

• Damodar, though a small river, was called the river of sorrow owing to devastating floods it caused. It flows from Chhotanagpur in Jharkhand to West Bengal.
• The Damodar Valley Project was conceived for the unified development of irrigation, flood control, promotion of navigation and power generation in West Bengal and Bihar.
• The project is administered by the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) patterned on the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) of USA.

The project includes: 

• Multipurpose storage dams at Tilaiya, Konar, Maithon and Panchet.
• Hydel power stations at Tilaiya, Maithon and Panchet.
• A 692-metre-long and 11.58-metre-high barrage at Durgapur and about 2,500 km irrigation-cum-navigation canals.
• 3 thermal power stations at Bokaro, Chandrapura and Durgapur.

Bhakra-Nangal Multipurpose Project

• It is a joint venture of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan and is the largest multipurpose project in India. 
• It comprises: 
  • The Bhakra Dam across the Sutlej at the foot of the Siwalik range in Himachal Pradesh. 
  • The Nangal barrage across the river, 123 km below the Bhakra Dam.
  • The Nangal Hydel Channel and the Bhakra Main Canal taking off from the Nangal Barrage.
  • 4 power houses, 2 at the foot of the Bhakra Dam and 2 on the Nangal Hydel Channel.
  • The project has 4 power houses with a total installed capacity of 1,204 mw. 

Nagarjuna Sagar Multipurpose Project

• The Nagarjuna Sagar Project, initiated in 1956, is one of India's largest irrigation project.
• The project comprises: a 1,450 m-long and 124.7 m-high masonry dam with storage capacity of 546.19 crore m3 across the Krishna in Nalgonda district of Andhra Pradesh, and 2 canals, one on either side of the river along with their irrigation distributary systems.
• The project also envisages a power house at the toe of the Nagarjuna sagar dam with 2 units of 50 mw each capacity. 
• Work on this pumped storage hydel scheme began in 1970.

Kosi Multipurpose Project

• It is an international project set up in accordance with an agreement signed between India and Nepal in 1954 and revised in 1966. The project is entirely being executed by India (Bihar state) but its benefits are being shared by Nepal.
• The main purpose of the Kosi project is irrigation, flood control and power generation. 

The project includes: 

• A 1,149 m long barrage across the Kosi near Hanumannagar on the Indo-Nepal border; 
• flood-embankments, 270.36 km in length, on both sides of the river in Saharsa and Darbhanga districts of Bihar and in Nepal; and 
• 3 canal systems– Eastern Kosi canal, Western Kosi canal and Rajpur Canal– in Bihar and Nepal.
• The 43.5 km long Eastern Kosi Canal provides perennial irrigation to 5.16 lakh hectares in Purnea and Saharsa districts of Bihar. The canal has been extended to irrigate 1.60 lakh additional hectares in Saharsa and Monghyr districts. 
• The ultimate irrigation potential is 8.75 lakh hectares in Bihar. A 20-mw capacity power house under construction on the Eastern Kosi Canal will provide 50 per cent of the power to Nepal.

 Chambal Valley Multipurpose Project

• It is a multipurpose inter-state project of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. 
• It aims at soil conservation in the Chambal basin and harnessing the Chambal river for irrigation and power in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

The project includes: 

• 3 storage dams across the river, namely, the Gandhisagar Dam in Mandsaur district (Madhya Pradesh), the Rana Pratap Sagar Dam and the Jawahar Sagar Dam in Rajasthan.
• The Kota Barrage near Kota City. 
• Power stations at all the three dams; and 
• Canals from the Kota Barrage.
• The total power capacity of this project is 386 mw of which the power house at Gandhi Sagar contributes 115 mw, Rana Pratap Sagar 172 mw and Jawahar Sagar 99 mw. 
• The power from this is supplied to Rajasthan and the western districts of Madhya Pradesh.

Tungabhadra Multipurpose Project

• This project is jointly executed by Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. 
• Its main objectives are irrigation and power generation. 

The project includes: 

• 2,441 m-long and 49.38 m-high straight gravity masonry dam across the Tungabhadra in Bellary district  of Karnataka; 
• 2 canals on the right side and one canal on the left side of the river taking off from the reservoir; mand similarly 2 power houses on the right side and one on the left side.
• The project provides irrigation to 3.92 lakh hectares– 3.32 lakh hectares in Raichur and Bellary districts of Karnataka and 0.60 lakh hectares in Anantapur and Kurnool districts of Andhra Pradesh.

Ramganga Multipurpose Project

This project in Uttar Pradesh includes: 

• A 625.8 m-long and 125.6 m-high earth and rock-filled dam across the Ramganga and a 75.6 m-high saddle dam across the Ghuisot stream near Kalagarh in Garhwal district; 
• A 546 m-long weir across the river at Hareoli; 
• An 82 km-long feeder canal taking off from the Hareoli Weir; 
• 3,880 km long new branch canal and remodelling of 3,388 km of existing canals– Lower Ganga Canal, Agra Canal, Upper Ganga Canal and Ramganga Canal; and 
• A power house on the right bank at the toe of the dam with an installed capacity of 198 mw.
• The project irrigates 5.75 lakh hectares in western and central Uttar Pradesh and supplies 200 cusecs of water for the Delhi Water Supply Scheme and reduces the flood intensity in central and western Uttar Pradesh.

Matatila Multipurpose Project

• This project serves Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. 
• It includes: 
  • A 6,378 m-long and 36.6 m-high earthen dam on the Betwa, 56 km south-west of Jhansi town; 
  • A power house with 30 mw installed capacity at the foot of the dam; and 
  • A III-km-long irrigation canal taking off from the reservoir. 
  • The project irrigates 1.65 lakh hectares in Jhansi, Jalaun and Hamirpur districts of Uttar Pradesh and Gwalior district of Madhya Pradesh.

Hirakud Multipurpose Project

• The main purpose of this project is irrigation, flood control and power generation. 

The project comprises: 

• The Hirakund dam across the Mahanadi in Orissa and 
• a canal taking off from the reservoir.
• The Hirakund dam, with a maximum height of 51m and length 4,801m, is one of the longest in the world. It has a gross storage capacity of 810 crore m3.
• A 147-km-long canal taking off from the reservoir irrigates 2.54 lakh hectares in Bolangir and Sambalpur districts. 
• The installed power capacity of the project is 270 mw– the main power house contributing 198 mw and second power house at Chiplima contributing 72 mw.