The biggest dams in India

Hailed as the "Temples of Resurgent India" by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the country's dams help provide water and electricity to millions citizens. We look at some of the biggest ones.

The Tehri Dam is a multi-purpose rock and earth-fill embankment dam on the Bhagirathi River near Tehri in Uttarakhand, India. It is the primary dam of the Tehri Hydro Development Corporation Ltd. and the Tehri hydroelectric complex. The dam is a 260 metres (850 ft) high rock and earth-fill embankment dam. Its length is 575 metres (1,886 ft), crest width 20 metres (66 ft), and base width 1,128 metres (3,701 ft). [Photo: By Arvind Iyer from Mumbai [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons}

Kerala Government has long been demanding construction of a new dam in Mullaperiyar on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border. Many believe that the existing 116-year-old dam could pose safety hazard.

While the matter rests with the apex court, we look at some of India’s biggest and most famous dams, hailed by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru as ‘The Temples of a Resurgent India’.

Bhakra Dam is a concrete gravity dam across the Sutlej River, and is near the border between Punjab and Himachal Pradesh in northern India. The dam, located at a gorge near the (now submerged) upstream Bhakra village in Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh, is Asia's second highest at 225.55 m (740 ft) high next to the 261m Tehri Dam. The length of the dam (measured from the road above it) is 518.25 m; it is 9.1 m broad. Its reservoir, known as the "Gobind Sagar", stores up to 9.34 billion cubic meters of water, enough to drain the whole of Chandigarh, parts of Haryana, Punjab and Delhi.The 90 km long reservoir created by the Bhakra Dam is spread over an area of 168.35 km2. In terms of storage of water, it withholds the second largest reservoir in India, the first being Indira Sagar dam in Madhya Pradesh with capacity of 12.22 billion cu m.Nangal dam is another dam downstream of Bhakra dam. [Photo by KawalSingh at en.wikipedia (Transferred from en.wikipedia - Public domain from Wikimedia Commons]

Hirakud Dam is built across the Mahanadi River, about 15 km from Sambalpur in the state of Orissa in India. Built in 1957, the dam is one of the world's longest earthen dam. Hirakud Dam is the longest man-made dam in the world, about 16 mi (26 km) in length. It is one of the first major multipurpose river valley project started after India's independence. [Photo by Quarterbacker (Own work) [CC-BY-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons]

Nagarjuna Sagar Dam is the world's largest masonry dam built across Krishna River in Nagarjuna Sagar, Nalgonda District of Andhra Pradesh, India, between 1955 and 1967. The dam contains the Nagarjuna Sagar reservoir with a capacity of up to 11,472 million cubic metres. The dam is 490 ft (150 m). tall and 1.6 km long with 26 gates which are 42 ft (13 m). wide and 45 ft (14 m). tall. Nagarjuna Sagar was the earliest in the series of large infrastructure projects initiated for the Green Revolution in India; it also is one of the earliest multi-purpose irrigation and hydro-electric projects in India.

The Sardar Sarovar Dam is a gravity dam on the Narmada River near Navagam, Gujarat, India. It is the largest dam and part of the Narmada Valley Project, a large hydraulic engineering project involving the construction of a series of large irrigation and hydroelectric multi-purpose dams on the Narmada River. The project took form in 1979 as part of a development scheme to increase irrigation and produce hydroelectricity. It is the 30th largest dams planned on river Narmada, Sardar Sarovar Dam (SSD) is the largest structure to be built. It has a proposed final height of 163 m (535 ft) from foundation. The dam is one of India's most controversial dam projects and its environmental impact and net costs and benefits are widely debated. The World Bank was initially a funder of the SSD, but withdrew in 1994. The Narmada Dam has been the centre of controversy and protest since the late 1980s. [Photo by AceFighter19 (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons]

 

The Indirasagar Dam is a multipurpose key project of Madhya Pradesh on the Narmada River at Narmadanagar in the Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh in India. The Project envisages construction of a 92 m high and 653 m long concrete gravity dam. It provides Irrigation in 1,230 square kilometres of land with annual production of 2700 million units in the districts of Khandwa and Khargone in Madhya Pradesh and power generation of 1000 MW installed capacity (8x125). The reservoir of 12,200,000,000 m3 (9,890,701 acre•ft) was created. { By Nvvchar (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl. html)], via Wikimedia Commons}

The Tungabhadra dam is constructed across the Tungabhadra River, a tributary of the Krishna River. The dam is located near the town of Hospet in Karnataka. The dam creates the biggest reservoir on the Tungabhadra River with 101 thousand million cubic feet (tmc) of gross storage capacity at full reservoir level (FRL) 498 m MSL, and a water spread area of 378 square kilometres. The dam is 49.5 meters high above its deepest foundation. {Photo by Amol.Gaitonde (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons}

The Bhavanisagar Dam and Reservoir, also called Lower Bhavani Dam, is located on the Bhavani River between Mettupalayam and Sathyamangalam in Erode District, Tamil Nadu, South India. The dam is situated around 16 km (9.9 mi) west to Satyamangalam and 35 km (22 mi) from Gobichettipalayam, 36 km (22 mi) north-east to Mettuppalayam and 70 km (43 mi) from Erode and 75 km (47 mi) from Coimbatore.

The dam is considered to be among the biggest earthen dams in the country. Bhavani Sagar dam is constructed on Bhavani River, which is merely under the union of Moyar River. The dam is used to divert water to the Lower Bhavani Project Canal.

{Photo by Rsrikanth05 (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons}

The Koyna Hydroelectric Project is the largest completed hydroelectric power plant of India It is a complex project consisting of total four dams with the largest Dam built on Koyna River known as Koyna Dam hence the name Koyna Hydroelectric project. The total Installed capacity of the project is 1,920 MW. The project consists of 4 stages of power generation. Due to the project's electricity generating potential the Koyna River is considered as the life line of Maharashtra.

The Idukki Dam, located in Kerala, India, is a 168.91 m (554 ft) tall arch dam. The dam stands between the two mountains - Kuravanmala (839) m and Kurathimala (925)m. It was constructed and is owned by the Kerala State Electricity Board. It supports a 780 MW hydroelectric power station.

It is built on the Periyar River, in the ravine between the Kuravan and Kurathi Hills in Kerala, India. At 167.68 metres, it is one of the highest arch dams in Asia and third tallest dam in India.

Photo by http://www.kseb.in/ [CC-BY- SA-2.5-in (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-sa/2.5/in/deed.en) ], via Wikimedia Commons

 

Krishna Raja Sagara, also popularly known as KRS, is the name of both a lake and the dam that causes it.Sir. Mokshagundam Visvesvarayya served as the chief engineer during the construction of this dam. The dam is named for the then ruler of the Mysore Kingdom, Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV [Photo by Amarrg at the English language Wikipedia [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/ fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], from Wikimedia Commons]

The Mettur Dam is a large dam in India built in 1934.[1] It was constructed in a gorge, where the Kaveri River enters the plains. The dam is one of the oldest in India. The total length of the dam is 1,700 m (5,600 ft). [Photo by Praveen Kumar.R (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons]

The Srisailam Dam is a dam constructed across the Krishna River at Srisailam in the Kurnool district in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India and is the second largest capacity hydroelectric project in the country. The dam was constructed in a deep gorge in the Nallamala Hills, 300 m (980 ft) above sea level. It is 512 m (1,680 ft) long, 145 m (476 ft) high and has 12 radial crest gates. It has a reservoir of 800 km2 (310 sq mi). [Photo by Chintohere (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons]

The Banasura Sagar Dam is located 21 km from Kalpetta, in Wayanad District of Kerala in the Western Ghats. It is the largest earthen dam in India and the second largest in Asia. [Photo by Challiyan (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons]

Further more

After independence we have made lots of progress in Dam and water reservoirs, Now India is one of the world’s most prolific dam-builders. Around 4300 large dams already constructed and many more in the pipeline, Almost half of which are more than twenty  years old. These dams are major attraction of tourists from all over India. Some facts about the Indian dams are: Tehri Dam is the eighth highest dam in the world. The Idukki dam is the first Indian arch dam in Periyar River Kerala and the largest arch dam in Asia. The Grand Anicut, Kallanai, located on Holy Cavery River in Tamil Nadu, is the oldest dam in the world. Indira Sagar Dam is the Largest Reservoir in India. These dams with the channel provides an ideal environment for wildlife.

Tehri Dam: Tehri Dam located on the Bhagirathi River, Uttaranchal Now become Uttarakhand. Tehri Dam is the highest dam in India,With a height of 261 meters and the eighth tallest dam in the world. The high rock and earth-fill embankment dam first phase was completed in 2006 and other two phases are under construction. The Dam water reservoir use for irrigation, municipal water supply and the generation of 1,000 MW of hydroelectricity.

• Height: 260 meters
• Length: 575 meters
• Type: Earth and rock-fill
• Reservoir Capacity: 2,100,000 acre·ft
• River: Bhagirathi River
• Location: Uttarakhand
• Installed capacity: 1,000 MW

Bhakra Nangal Dam: Bhakra Nangal Dam is a gravity dam across the sutlej river Himachal Pradesh. Bhakra Nangal is the largest dam in India, with a height of 225 meters and second largest Dam in Asia. Its reservoir, known as the “Gobind Sagar Lake” it is the second largest reservoir in India, the first being Indira Sagar dam.

• Height: 226 meters
• Length: 520 meters
• Type: Concrete gravity
• Reservoir Capacity: 7,501,775 acre·ft
• River: Sutlej River
• Location: Punjab and Himachal Pradesh
• Installed capacity: 1325 MW

Hirakud Dam: Hirakud dam built across the Mahanadi River in tribal state Orissa. Hirakud Dam is one of the longest dams in the world about 26 km in length. There are two observation towers on the dam one is “Gandhi Minar” and another one is “Nehru Minar”. The Hirakud Reservoir is 55 km long used as multipurpose scheme intended for flood control, irrigation and power generation. It was one of the major multipurpose river valley project after Independence.

• Height: 60.96  meters
• Length: 25.8 km
• Type: Composite Dam
• Reservoir Capacity: 4,779,965 acre·ft
• River: Mahanadi River
• Location: Orissa
• Installed capacity: 307.5 MW

Nagarjunasagar Dam: Nagarjuna Sagar Dam is the world’s largest masonry dam with a height of 124 meters, built across Krishna River in Andhra Pradesh. Nagarjuna Sagar Dam is certainly the pride of India-considered the largest man-made lake in the world. The 1.6 km long with 26 gates dam was symbol of modern India’s architectural and technological triumphs over nature.

• Height: 124 meters
• Length:1,450 meters
• Type: Masonry Dam
• Reservoir Capacity: 9,371,845 acre·ft
• River: Krishna River
• Location: Andhra Pradesh
• Installed capacity: 816 MW

Sardar Sarovar Dam: Sardar Sarovar Dam also known as “Narmada Dam” is the largest dam to be built, with a height of 163 meters, over the Sacred Narmada River in Gujarat. Drought prone areas of Kutch and Saurashtra will get irrigate by this project. The gravity dam is the largest dam of Narmada Valley Project with power facilities up to 200 MW. The dam is meant to benefit the 4 major states of India Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.

• Height: 163 meters
• Length:1,210 meters
• Type: Gravity Dam
• Reservoir Capacity: 7,701,775 acre·ft
• River: Narmada River
• Location: Gujarat
• Installed capacity: 1,450 MW

SOME OLD PHOTOS OF BAGDAD

History of Baghdad

Baghdad (Arabic: بغداد‎ ​ translit: Baghdād) is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate. It is the second-largest city in Southwest Asia after Tehranand the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo, and the largest city in Iraq, with the 2003 population estimated at 5,772,000. Situated on the Tigris River at 33°20′N 44°26′E, the city was once the center of Dar al-Islam, Muslim civilisation.

History

The city of Baghdad is often said to have been founded on the west bank of the Tigris on 30 July 762 by the Abbasid dynasty, led by caliph al-Mansur; however, the city of Baghdad is mentioned in pre-Islamic texts, including the Talmud. Thus Baghdad was probably built on the site of this earlier city, which was located 50 miles north of Babylon. This city replaced Ctesiphon, the capital of the Persian Empire (which is located 20 miles southeast of Baghdad), and Damascus, as the capital of an Umayyad Muslim empire stretching from North Africa to Iran. The origin of the city's name is most likely from the Kurdish or Persian بغداد for "God-given" derived from "bagh" (God) and "dad" (given); so it most likely represented a very beautiful and pleasant site, hence the name. A minority, however, believes the name to be from an Aramaic phrase for "sheep enclosure."

The city was designed as a circle about 2 kilometers in diameter, leading it to be known as the "Round City". The original design shows a ring of residential and commercial structures along the inside of the city walls, but the final construction added another ring, inside the first. In the center of the city lay the mosque, as well as headquarters for guards. The purpose or use of the remaining space in the center is unknown. The circular design of the city was a direct reflection of the traditional Persian Sasanian urban design. The ancient Sasanian city of Gur/Firouzabad is nearly identical in its general circular design, radiating avenues, and the government buildings and temples at the epicenter of the city.

The roundness points to the fact that it was based on Persian precedents such as Firouzabad in Persia. The two designers who were hired by al-Mansur to plan the city's design were Naubakht, a former Persian Zoroastrian who also determined that the date of the foundation of the city would be astrologically auspicious, and Mashallah, a former Jew from Khorasan, Iran.

It is believed that Baghdad was the largest city in the world from 775 to 935. It may have been the first city with a population above 1,000,000. 

Nomenclature

Although there is no dispute over its Iranian origin, Baghdad has had two main different etymologies. The most reliable and agreed-upon one is that it is a combination of Kurdish or Old-Persian baga (=god, God) + dāta (=given) giving the Middle Persian word "Bagdāt/Bagdād" (=Given by God); hence, Modern Persian and Arabic Baghdad. The other etymology is that it comes from Persian Baagh-daad or Bag-Da-Du [trans. “Garden of God”].

A Center of learning

Within a generation of its founding, Baghdad became a hub of learning and commerce. The House of Wisdom was an establishment dedicat to the translation of Greek, Middle Persian and Syriac works. The Barmakids were influential in bringing scholars from the nearby Academy of Gundishapur, facilitating the introduction of Greek and Indian science into the Arabic world. Some suggest that the city contained over a million inhabitants, though others say the actual figure may have been only a fraction. A portion of the population of Baghdad originated in Iran especially from Khorasan. Many of Shahrazad's tales in One Thousand and One Nights are set in Baghdad during this period. 

Early invaders

The city's population was between 300,000 and 500,000 in the 9th century. Baghdad's early meteoric growth slowed due to troubles within the Caliphate, including relocations of the capital to Samarra (during 808–819 and 836–892), the loss of the western and easternmost provinces, and periods of political domination by the Iranian Buwayhids (945–1055) and Seljuk Turks (1055–1135). Nevertheless, the city remained one of the cultural and commercial hubs of the Islamic world until February 10, 1258, when it was sacked by the Mongols under Hulagu Khan. The Mongols massacred 800,000 of the city's inhabitants, including the Abbasid Caliph Al-Musta'sim, and destroyed large sections of the city. The canals and dykes forming the city's irrigation system were also destroyed. The sack of Baghdad put an end to the Abbasid Caliphate, a blow from which the Islamic civilization never fully recovered.

At this point Baghdad was ruled by the Il-Khanids, the Mongol emperors of Iran. In 1401, Baghdad was again sacked, by Timur ("Tamerlane"). It became a provincial capital controlled by the Jalayirid (1400–1411), Qara Quyunlu (1411–1469), Aq Quyunlu (1469–1508), and Safavid (1508–1534) dynasties. In 1534, Baghdad was conquered by the Ottoman Turks. Under the Ottomans, Baghdad fell into a period of decline, partially as a result of the enmity between its rulers and Persia. For a time, Baghdad had been the largest city in the Middle East before being overtaken by Constantinople in the 16th century. The Nuttall Encyclopedia reports the 1907 population of Baghdad as 185,000. 

Independence

Baghdad remained under Ottoman rule until the establishment of the kingdom of I-CAK under British control in 1921. British control was established by a systematic suppression of Iraqi Arab and Kurdish national aspirations. The British dealt with insurrection with gas attacks by the army in the south and a bombing campaign by the fledgling RAF across Iraq, including against the city of Baghdad. When the Iraqi people stood up for themselves, Britain responded with the world's first civillian targeted bombing campaign, which included terror bombing, night bombing, heavy bombers, and delayed action bombs (particularly lethal against children), all officially to "police" the Iraqi people. Iraq was given formal independence in 1932, increased autonomy in 1946, but true independence was not to be had until 1958 when the Iraqi people deposed Britain's puppet king, Faisal II. The city's population grew from an estimated 145,000 in 1900 to 580,000 in 1950 of which 140,000 were Jewish. During the 1970s Baghdad experienced a period of prosperity and growth because of a sharp increase in the price of petroleum, Iraq's main export. New infrastructure including modern sewage, water, and highway facilities were built during this period. However, the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s was a difficult time for the city, as money flowed into the army and thousands of residents were killed. Iran launched a number of missile attacks against Baghdad, although they caused relatively little damage and few casualties. 

Baghdad in the early 19th centry

Baghdad old bridge in the year 1914

Al-Rasheed Street in the year 1945

 


 
Tob "An Old Canon" Abu Khizzamah in Midan Sq. - 1918

The Old Jewish Quarter of Baghdad

Excerpts from the book: "Mine Was The Last Generation In Babylon"

by Kenneth R. Kattan M.D.

Families and relatives lived in the same neighbourhood. In some cases the adult sons and their spouses stayed with parents even after they married and had children. Each couple had one or two rooms in the big house. All shared the same kitchen. Most of these families lived in harmony, or at least tolerated each other.

In the thirties and forties many started to move to the more modern neighbourhoods in the South part of Baghdad. Some of the houses were above the shops of the market (hanging houses).

My wife's father, Ezra Rahima, used to dress in zeboon (gown), abaya (cloak) and tarboush (fez). He slept usually near the window facing the street to hear the call of the Shamash to early morning prayers, shouting Abu Rahmin "Time for Shahrit." During weekdays very few boys accompanied their fathers to the synagogue.

About one hour later, the same men came home with their purchases from Souk Hinnouni, the food market, carrying food in wicker baskets. Men bought the meat, vegetables, eggs, bread and whatever food was needed every day. By this time the wife had prepared breakfast. Women did not do the buying. It was a man's duty.

Half an hour later, after having their breakfast, Mr Rahima emerged again, this time to go to work. Children started going to school. During holidays the alleys became noisy with boys playing and shouting. Jewish boys could play outside their houses in this area. Muslims were not around to harass them. Girls played inside the house. It would be difficult to imagine the Jewish neighbourhood without knowing Souk Hinnouni.

Souk Hinnouni (Hannoon market) was the heart of the Jewish neighbourhood. It was the main food market for more than sixty thousand people who lived in this area and it was situated inside this residential area. All the vendors and the customers were Jews. There was even a synagogue situated in its middle. It consisted of multiple intersecting alleys, each not more than 3 metres in width. They were unpaved, and they became muddy during the rainy days, autumn and winter.

In one alley there were four butcher shops next to each other. They sold mutton and other parts of the sheep, mainly liver, spleen, lungs, heart and sweetbread. The stomach, the intestines, the head and lower parts of the legs were sold in a different shop. The butcher went to the slaughterhouse after midnight, bought the number of sheep he thought he would need the next morning, had them slaughtered and took the carcasses to his shop. Each butcher bought four to ten sheep each day. Since there was no storage or refrigerator, the butcher had to sell all the merchandise by noon, which he usually did.

There were four or five shops that sold river fish from the Tigris. They were sold fresh. There was the shabboot and the binni that were sold whole. The bizz was very large fish up to 2 metres in length, so it was sold by the kilo.

In another alley of the souk there were shops selling live chickens. Nobody bought slaughtered or dressed chicken. A full chicken was bought. Customers felt the chicken for fat. A fat chicken was considered better and tastier. In the same alley there was the shohet (ritual slaughterer). After buying the chicken, it was brought to him for slaughter. He checked the animal for a defect or for a broken limb. Then he held the neck with his left hand, removed a few feathers from the neck, looked for the windpipe and the blood vessel. Then he cut with one stroke the windpipe and the blood vessels supplying the head. He had to do it in one stroke according to the Jewish law. After that he threw the chicken on a container containing ashes, in order to absorb the blood. The knife had to be very sharp so that when it cuts the animal it would not be felt. The artery had to be cut so that the brain would be denied the blood supply. The animal would loose consciousness in no time. Not everybody could be a shohet.

After passing a test, was licensed by the "Jewish authority" who would check his knife at regular intervals.

In another alley there were the vegetable and fruit vendors who sold the seasonal product. In the same alley there were the shops that sold cheeses. Feta cheese was the most consumed cheese in Iraq. The vendor sold thick yoghurt and butter, and qaimer (thick cream).

All sorts of other products and cooked food were sold in souk Hannouni. The people who crowded the souk and brought life to it are no more there. They and their children have been transplanted into the promised land: Israel.

It is God's will and the way of all flesh.

Ramat-Gan

Abraham Ben-Elyahou

Above: Street scene in a Jewish section of Baghdad

Above: Selling cooked fava beans in the alleyways