Project

BHAKRA NAGAL DAM
Bhakra Nangal Dam is a concrete gravity dam across the Sutlej River, near the border between Punjab and Himachal Pradesh in northern India. The dam, located in the village of Bhakra in the Bilaspur region of Himachal Pradesh, is Asia's largest at 225.55 m (740 ft) high. It is the highest gravity dam in the world. The length of the dam (measured from the road above it) is 518.25 m; it is 304.84 m broad. Its reservoir, known as the "Gobind Sagar", stores up to 9340 million cu m of water, enough to drain the whole of Chandigarh, parts of Haryana, Punjab and Delhi. The 90 km long reservoir created by the Bhakra Nangal Dam is spread over an area of 168.35 km2. In terms of storage of water, it is the second largest dam in India, the first being Indira Sagar dam in Madhya Pradesh with capacity of 12.22 billion cu m.
Described as 'New Temple of Resurgent India' by Jawahar Lal Nehru,[1] the first prime minister of India, the dam attracts tourists from all over India.

HISTORY

The Bhakra-Nangal multipurpose dam was among the earliest river valley development schemes undertaken by independent India, although the project was conceived long before India became a free nation. Preliminary works commenced in 1946. Construction of the dam started in 1948, Jawahar Lal Nehru poured the first bucket of concrete into the foundations of Bhakra on 17 November 1955 [2] and the dam was completed by the end of 1963. Successive stages were completed by the early 1970s.

FEATURES

The dam, at 741 ft (226 m), is one of the highest gravity dams in the world (compared to USA's largest Hoover Dam at 732 ft). The 166 km² Gobindsagar Reservoir, named after Guru Gobind Singh, is created by this dam.

USAGE

The dam was part of the larger multipurpose Bhakra Nangal Project whose aims were to prevent floods in the Sutlej-Beas river valley, to provide irrigation to adjoining states and to provide hydro-electricity. It also became a tourist spot for the tourists during...