Which One Is The Longest Dam In India?
The Longest Dam in India: Hirakud dam
Location: Sambalpur, Orissa, in India
Construction Started: In 1948
The Dam Was Completed: In 1953
Started Working Fully: In 1957
River: Mahanadi
Height: 60.96 m
Length: 4.8 km (Total length including embankment 25.8 km)
Reservoir Capacity: 4,779,965 acres
Short Description: ‘Hirakud dam’ is the longest dam in the world, 25.8 km Tall. This dam is the largest and most important means of irrigation after independence built on the Mahanadi. It is the longest dam in India.
More about Longest Dam in India: Hirakud Dam
Table of Contents
Hirakud Dam is one of India’s river valley projects built under the Hirakud project. This dam is 15 km from the Sambalpur district in the state of Orissa. This longest dam in India had built on the Mahanadi River. Let’s now know about some of the features of the longest river in India:
- The creation of this Hirakud Dam was started in 1948 and it was completed in 1953. In 1957, the dam was fully functioning.
- Due to the dam embankment 743 sq. km Long has become a delicate lake. This is called ‘Hirakud’.
- This dam is the longest dam in the world. The length of this dam is 4.8 km. And thus its total length, including the embankment, is 25.8 km.
- There are two separate hydroelectric houses in Hirakud dam
- Three main canals have been removed from the dam. And thus ‘Boragarh Canal’ on the right and ‘Sasan’ and ‘Sambalpur Canal’ from the left side
- The total capacity of powerhouses is 307.5 MW. This power is being used in various factories and industrial units in Orissa, Bihar, and Jharkhand.
- These canals have irrigation of Sambalpur, Bollamagiri, Puri, and Cuttack districts
- The lake of this dam is Asia’s largest man-made lake. Its purpose is flood control and power generation.
- Soil, concrete and other materials used to make Hirakud dam can be constructed from Kanyakumari to Kashmir and about eight meters wide road from Amritsar to Dibrugarh.
- The best weather is for monsoon for the visit to the dam, during which the water is filled in the reservoir.
- Provide a calm pace to the farm, the livestock, and the fisherman sector.
Projects on Longest Dam in India: Hirakud Dam
There are 3 dams in the entire Hirakund project, like the Hirakud Dam, the Tikarapara dam, and the Naraj dam. It provides 1, 55,635 hectares and 1, 08,385-hectare irrigation to Rabi and Kharif crops respectively in Sambalpur, Bargarh, Bolangir and Subarnapur districts of Odisha.
Water released through PowerHouse irrigates 436,000 hectares in Mahanadi delta. So, the cumulative capacity of Burla and Chiplima’s two powerhouses is 307.5 MW.
The main objective of the Hirakud dam project is to control the flow of the Mahanadi River, which is a dangerous situation of floods from time to time with the catchment area of 132,000 sq. km. So, the Hirakund dam accepts 83400 sq. km (32200 sq. mi) area of Mahanadi catchments. This is not only India’s longest dam but also consider as the longest dam in the world.
Location of Longest Dam in India: Hirakud Dam
Hirakund dam is in the Sambalpur district through the Mahanadi River. The Hirakud dam isn’t only the longest dam in India, but also Asia’s largest artificial lake, with a storage volume of 743 sq. km as well as a coastline of more than 640 kilometers.
Construction of Longest Dam in India: Hirakud Dam
The manufacture of this Hirakud Dam is in the year 1937, from the time of the devastating floods. The base of this dam had placed on March 15, 1946, by the governor of Orissa, Sir Hawthorne Lewis. A scheme report had delivered to the government. And then Jawaharlal Nehru had officially invested the Hirakud dam in 1957. This project started working on its full capacity since 1966.
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Canals of Longest Dam in India: Hirakud Dam
The project provides flood protection to 9500 sq. km of delta area in districts of Cuttack Puri. The entire irrigated patches of the dam’s land have two canal systems. They are Sasan Canal and Barghad Canal. And thus, each canal is of different types:
- Sasan canal is of ridge type and
- Bargarh canal is contour type
Purpose of Longest Dam in India: Hirakud Dam
Hirakund Dam controls the flow of the Mahanadi River and thus, reducing the conditions of flood in different areas. Neither only this dam controls the flood, but it also relieves the conditions of the drought. One more important task of this dam is to harvest hydroelectricity with the assistance of numerous hydroelectric power plants.
Traveler’s Guide:
Hirakud Dam is a giant tourist destination. This dam had built on Mahanadi River. Located not more than 15 km from Sambalpur. One can visit this dam by traveling to this place for only one day.
It has the distinction to be one of the longest things that human beings have built in the world; its building started in the year 1957 as well as has an important place in history. So, this dam spread above 26 kilometers, this dam is nearly endless.
The artificial lake created through the construction of the dam provides a panoramic view of the city, which will look good to the eyes. So, the observation tower, the Gandhi Minar on one side of Lake and Jawaharlal Nehru on the other side provides a panoramic view of Lake Minar and the surrounding area.
Provide a calm pace to the farm, livestock and fisherman sector. The best weather for a visit to the dam is a monsoon. During monsoon, the reservoir gets filled with water.