HIRAKUD DAM

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Key Facts about Hirakud Dam

• Hirakud Dam is located around 15 kilometers from Sambalpur in the state of Odisha, across the Mahanadi River.
• It is the world's longest earthen dam, measuring around 16 miles and 26 kilometers in length.
• The dam creates the Hirakud Reservoir, also known as Hirakud Lake. It is Asia's largest man-made lake.
• The main dam has an overall length of 4.8 km (3.0 mi) spanning between two hills; the Laxmidungri on the left and the Chandili Dunguri on the right.

History behind this dam

• It is one of India's first multifunctional projects following independence.
• The building began in 1948 and was finished in 1953.
• It was created to control the flow of the Mahanadi River and manage the region's recurring flood problem.
• The dam was inaugurated in 1957 by then-Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

Structure of this dam

• The dam's most common building materials are granite, hard concrete, and soil.
• The main construction of Hirakud Dam is around 4.8 kilometers long, stretching from the Chandidungri hills on the right to the Lamdungri hills on the left.
• The catchment area is approximately 83400 square kilometers, and the dam is a concrete, masonry, and earthen structure.

Purpose

• The purpose of this project is to provide irrigation to 1,08,385 hectares of Rabi crops and 1,55,635 hectares of Kharif crops in Bolangir, Subarnapur, Bargarh, and Sambalpur.
• The installed power generation capacity at Hirakud dam is 359.8 MW.
• The water released by the powerhouse also irrigates about 436,000 hectares of land in the Mahanadi delta.
• The Hirakud Project also protects the delta area in Cuttack and Puri districts, which encompasses an area of 9500 square kilometers.

Cattle Island:

• Cattle Island is a small island located within the Hirakud Reservoir.
• It is home to a huge herd of wild cattle, who are said to be descendants of animals left behind by locals when the dam was built in the 1950s.

The Mahanadi River:

• It is one of India's major east-flowing peninsular rivers.
• The river gets its name from the Sihawa range of hills in Chhattisgarh's Dhamtari district.
• It flows southeasterly through Chhattisgarh and Odisha.
• The basin's catchment area includes large areas of Chhattisgarh and Odisha, as well as lesser portions of Jharkhand, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh.
• It flows a total of 860 kilometers before reaching the Bay of Bengal.
• Seonath River, Jonk River, Hasdeo River, Mand River, Ib River, Ong River, and Telen River are the main tributaries of the Mahanadi.

Other Major Dams in India