HIRAKUD
DAM - GEOGRAPHY
News: Odisha
announces plan to rehabilitate those displaced by construction of the Hirakud
dam
What's
in the news?
●
The Odisha government announced a plan for
giving land rights to 1,749 families in Jharsuguda district, who had lost their
land amid the construction of the Hirakud dam over the Mahanadi River in the
1950s.
Hirakud
Dam:
●
It is a multipurpose scheme conceived by Er. M. Visveswaraya in 1937, after
recurrence of devastating floods in Mahanadi River.
●
Its first hydro power was commissioned in
1956.
Location:
●
The dam is built across river Mahanadi at about 15 km upstream
of Sambalpur town in the state of Odisha.
Objectives:
1.
Irrigation:
●
The project provides irrigation in the
districts of Sambalpur, Bargarh, Bolangir and Subarnapur.
2.
Power generation:
●
The installed capacity for power generation
is 347.5 MW through its two power houses at Burla, at the right bank and
Chiplima, at 22 km downstream of the dam.
3.
Flood control:
●
The project provides flood protection to
Mahanadi basin including 9500 sq. km of delta area in districts of Cuttack and
Puri.