Bhakra Nangal Dam

OV Digital Desk
2 Min Read
Bhakra Nangal Dam

Bhakra Nangal Dam is a gravity dam across the Sutlej River Himachal Pradesh. Bhakra Nangal is the fourth largest dam in India.

Its reservoir is known as ‘Gobind Sagar’ which stores up to 9.34 billion cubic meters of water and it is the second-largest reservoir in India.

HISTORY

The Bhakra Nangal multi-purpose dams are first among the river valley development schemes taken by the government after independence. It is one of the highest gravity dams in the world.

The construction of the multipurpose dam was initially started in 1984 by the then Lieutenant Governor of Punjab, Sir Louis Dane. But it got delayed, it was resumed after Independence under the chief Architect Rai Bahadur Kunwar Sen Gupta. Thus, on 18 November 1955, Jawaharlal Nehru poured the first bucket of concrete into the foundations of Bhakra.

The construction of the dam was completed in 1963, and it was dedicated to the nation by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. On 22 October 2013, the Government of India approved the release of a commemorative stamp to mark the 50th anniversary of the Bhakra Dam. As for how successful India was at that time that it was the only dam in Asia that could produce 1500 MW power.

Maintenance of the Bhakra dam is done by Bhakra Beas Management Board.

FEATURES

The bhakra dam is built on the Sutlej River. It is the fourth largest dam and the second tallest in India with a height of 225 meters. It was part of the larger multipurpose Bhakra Nangal Project whose aims were to provide irrigation and to provide hydroelectricity.

After some years of construction, it became a tourist spot for its huge size. It also has four spillway gates that are only used when the reservoir exceeds the maximum allowed level.

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