Multi Purpose Projects in India – UPSC

In this article, You will read the Important list of Multi Purpose Projects in India – for UPSC.

Multi Purpose Projects

Multipurpose project is the scientific management of water resources in the country. A multipurpose project is a massive project which serves a variety of purposes like- flood control, fish breeding, irrigation, generation of electricity, soil conservation, etc. whereas, the hydropower projects are those related to providing only electricity mainly.

Main objectives or Advantages of Multipurpose Project:

• Generation of Power : They produce neat, pollution free and cheapest energy which is the back bone of industry and agriculture. According to the economic survey 2005-06 these produce more than 30, 000 M.W. power.
• Flood Control : These projects control the flood because water can be stored in them. These projects have converted many ‘rivers of sorrow’ into river of boon. Example River Kosi.
• Soil Conservation : These conserve the soil because they slow down the speed of water.
• Irrigation : They irrigate the fields during the dry seasons. Many canals have been dug and they irrigate dry areas.
• Afforestation : Trees are systematically planted in and around reservoirs. This helps in preserving “Wild life” and natural ecosystm.
• Water Navigation : They provide for Inland water navigation through main river or canal. It is the cheapest means of transport for heavy goods.
• Fisheries : These provide ideal condition for the breeding of fish. Choosen varieties of fish are allowed to grow.
• Tourist Centres : These projects are well cared and are scientifically developed. So these become the centre of tourist attraction.

Disadvantages of Multi-purpose Projects:

• Fertile agricultural land submerged under the river water.
• Forest land are either cleared or submerged under water. It is great loss for environment.
• Large no. of people are displaced. They have to leave their own houses and properties.
• Siltation in the dam reduces the lifespan of the project.
• Big Multipurpose projects can result into minor earthquakes.

Multi Purpose Projects in India

Multipurpose Project	River	State
Bansagar Project	Son	Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh
Bargi Project	Bargi	Madhya Pradesh
Beas Project	Beas	HaryanaPunjabRajasthan
Bhadra Project	Bhadra	Karnataka
Bhakhra Nangal Project	Sutlej	Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajsthan
Bheema Project	Pawana	Maharashtra
Chambal Project	Chambal	Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh
Damodar Ghati Project	Damodar	Jharkhand, West Bengal
Dulhasti Project	Chenab	Jammu & Kashmir
Durga Barrage Project	Damodar	West Bengal, Jharkhand
Farakka Project	Ganga, Bhagirathi	West Bengal
Gandak Project	Gandaki	Bihar, Uttar Pradesh
Ganga Sagar Project	Chambal	Madhya Pradesh
Ghatprabha Project	Ghatprabha	Karnataka
Girna Project	Girna	Maharashtra
Hansdev Bango Project	Hansdev	Madhya Pradesh
Hidkal Project	Ghatprabha	Karnataka
Hirakud Project	Mahanadi	Orissa
Idduki Project	Periyar	Kerala
Indira Gandhi Canal Project	Satlaj	Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana
Jawahar Sagar Project	Chambal	Rajasthan
Jayakwadi Project	Godawari	Maharashtra
Kakrapara Project	Tapti	Gujrat
Kangsawati Project	Kangsawati	West Bengal
Kol Dam Project	Sutlej	Himachal Pradesh
Kosi Project	Kosi	Bihar & Nepal
Koyana Project	Koyana	Maharashtra
Krishna Project	Krishna	Karnataka
Kunda Project	Kunda	Tamilnadu
Let Bank Ghaghra Canal	Ganga	Uttar Pradesh
Madhya Ganga Canal	Ganga	Uttar Pradesh
Mahanadi Delta Project	Mahanadi	Odisha
Malprabha Project	Malprabha	Karnataka
Mandi Project	Vyas	Himachal Pradesh
Matatilla Project	Betwa	Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh
Mayurakshi Project	Mayurakshi	West Bengal
Minimato Bango Hasdeo Project	Hasdeo Bango river	Madhya Pradesh
Muchkund Project	Muchkund	Odisha, Andhra Pradesh
Nagarjunsagar Project	Krishna	Andhra Pradesh
Nagpur Power Project	Koradi	Maharashtra
Narmada Sagar Project	Narmada	Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat
Nathpa Jhakri Project	Sutlej	Himachal Pradesh
Panam Project	Panam	Gujarat
Panama Project	Panama	Gujarat
Panchet Project	Damodar	Jharkhand, West Bengal
Pong Project	Beas	Punjab
Poochampad Project	Godawari	Andhra Pradesh
Purna Project	Purna	Maharashtra
Rajasthan Canal Project	Sutlej, Vyas, Ravi	Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana
Ramganga Project	Ramganga	Uttar Pradesh
Rana Pratap Sagar Project	Chambal	Rajasthan
Ranjeet Sagar Project	Ravi	Punjab
Rihand Project	Rihand	Uttar Pradesh
Salal Project	Chenab	Jammu & Kashmir
Sardar Sarovar Project	Narmada	Madhya PradeshMaharashtraRajasthan
Sarhind Project	Sutlej	Haryana
Sharawati Project	Sharawati	Karnataka
Sharda Project	Sharda, Gomti	Uttar Pradesh
Shivsamundram Project	Kaveri	Karnataka
Sutlej Project	Chenab	Jammu & Kashmir
Tawa Project	Tawa	Madhya Pradesh
Tehri Dam Project	Bhagirathi	Uttarakhand
Tilaiya Project	Barakar	Jharkhand
Tulbul Project	Chenab	Jammu & Kashmir
Tungabhadra Project	Tungabhadra	Andhra Pradesh.Karnataka
Ukai Project	Tapti	Gujarat
Upper Penganga Project	Penganga	Maharashtra
Uri Power Project	Jhelum	Jammu & Kashmir
Umiam Project	Umiam	Shillong (Meghalaya)
Vyas Project	Vyas	RajasthanPunjabHaryanaHimachal Pradesh

Ranjit Sagar :

• Also known as Thein Dam, is located in the Gurudaspur district of Punjab near Pathankot
• Constructed on the Ravi River
• Project is used for both irrigation and HEP
• It is the biggest HEP project of Punjab (4X150 MW)
• One of the highest Earth Fill Dams of India

Pong Dam :

• A 116m high dam at Pong in the Dhaoladhar Range near Pong village (Himachal Pradesh) on the Beas River
• Mainly an irrigation scheme to irrigate about 21 lakh hectares in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan
• Total istalled capacity of HEP at the Beas complex – 1020MW

Pandoh Dam :

• The Beas –Satluj link involves the construction of 61m high diversion dam at Pandoh on the Beas in Himachal Pradesh
• Power Plant at Dehar -660 MW
• Irrigates about 5.25 lakh hectares in Punjab and Haryana

Govind Sagar :

• 88 km long and 8 km wide reservoir formed behind the Bhakra Dam
• Storage capacity – 969.8 crore cubic metres
• Named after the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh.

Bhakra :

• One of the highest gravity dams in the world on the Satluj at the Bhakra gorge near Rupnagar (Ropar)
• 222 metre high and 518m long
• Formed reservoir called Govind Sagar
• Joint venture of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan
• HEP-450MW +600MW

Nangal :

• About 13km downstream of the Bhakra on the Satluj
• 29m high and 305m long
• Serves as balancing reservoir for taking up daily fluctuations from the Bhakra Dam
• HEPs at Ganguwal and Kotla
• Joint venture of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan

Maithon :

• Part of the DVC in Jharkhand
• On the Barakar River near the confluence of the Damodar and Barakar
• 49m high and 994m long
• HEP- 60MW

Konar :

• On the Konar River in the Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand
• 3549m long and 49m high
• An earthen dam with a concrete spill-way part of the DVC
• HEP-10MW- Bokaro Steel Plant and BokaroThermal Plant receive HEP and water from it
• Irrigation-45000 hectares

Tilaiya :

• Part of the DVC on the Barakar River in Jharkhand
• 30m high and 366m long
• Only concrete dam in the area
• Two power stations of 2000 KW each
• Irrigation -40,000 hectares

Farakka Barrage :

• On the Ganga River in the Murshidabad district of WB,10 km away from the Indo-Bangladeshi border
• Built to divert water into the Hoogly, so that during the dry season silt can be flushed out to keep the Kolkata Port navigable
• Longest Barrage in the world
• Disputed between India and Bangladesh

Hirakud :

• On the Mahanadi in Orissa at Hirakud about 14km upstream off the city of Sambalpur
• 61m high and 4801m long (one of the longest dams in the world )
• Two other dams at Tikrapara and Naraj near Cuttack
• HEP- 3.5 lakh KW
• Irrigation -1 million hectares

Balimela :

• Constructed across the Sileru River at Balimela in Malkangiri district of Orissa
• Both irrigation and HEP(510 Mw)
• It is a joint project of odisha and andhra pradesh.

Govind Vallabh Pant Sagar :

• On the Rihand River behind the Rihand Dam near Pipri in the Mirzapur of Uttar Padesh
• Largest man made reservoir in India (446 sq km )
• Another dam at Obra, 25km north
• HEP and irrigation to Madhya Pradsh, Uttar Padesh and Bihar

Jawahar Sagar :

• On the Chambal River in Rajasthan about 29km upstream of Kota city
• 45m high and 548m long gravity dam
• Also known as Kota Dam
• Three HEP units of 33000 MW each

Kota Barrage :

• On the the Chambal in Rajasthan at a distance less than 1km from Kota
• 36m high and 600m long earthen barrage
• Canals taken from both sides of the barrage irrigates 4.4 lakh hectares in Rajasthan and MP

Harike Barrage :

• Located at the confluence of the Satluj and Beas rivers in the Firozpur district of Punjab
• The Indira Gandhi Canal has been taken out of this barrage

Indira Sagar :

• The most important project of the Narmada Valley Development Project.
• Omkareshwar , Maheshwar and Sardar Sarovar receive water from it
• Largest water storage capacity in the country
• Located in the Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh
• HEP-8X125= 1000MW
• Irrigation 1.23 lakh hectares

Omkareshwar :

• On the Narmada at Mandhata village in East Nimar (Khandwa) district of Madhya Pradesh
• HEP -8X65=520 MW
• Irrigation -1,46,800 hectares
• Its power generation capacity is directly related with the amount of water released from the Indira Sagar

Maheshwar :

• On the Narmada in Madhya Pradesh downstream off the Omkareshwar
• HEP- 10X40=400MW
• A project which does not affect the forest land
• First privately financed hydroelectric dam in India

Chota Tawa :

• On the Chota Tawa, left bank tributary of the Narmada, at Ranipur village of the Hoshangabad district of Madhya Pradesh
• HEP-13.50 MW
• Irrigation – 24,700 hectares
• Located at the confluence of the Tawa and the Denwa rivers
• Third largest dam of the Narmada Valley Project

Sardar Sarovar :

• Project of MP, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan
• On the Narmada at Kevadia village of the Vadodara district of Gujarat
• 121.92 m high can be raised upto 163 m as per the proposal
• HEP-1450MW
• Irrigation – Around 20 lakh hectares.

Ukai :

• Built on the Tapi River when it enters Gujarat
• Mainly for HEP
• Capacity -300 MW
• Electricity is supplied to Surat and other neighbouring cities

Koyna :

• Constructed across the Koyna River in the Satara district of Maharashtra
• Has formed the Shivaji Sagar
• Constructed mainly to generate HEP
• HEP capacity -860 MW
• Experienced earthquake in 1967, which proved that the Deccan Plateau is made of several minor plates

Nizam Sagar :

• An irrigation and HEP project on the Manjra River in AP near Nizamabad
• Water is supplied to Nizamabad and Hyderabad
• Constructed in 1923 by Nizam-Ul-Mulk, the then ruler of the erstwhile Nizam state
• A masonry dam over which fourteen feet wide motorable road is present
• Frequented by tourists

Hussain Sagar :

• An artificial lake in Hyderabad built by Hazrat Husain Shah Wali in 1562 during the rule of Ibrahim Quli Qutub Shah
• Built on a tributary of the Musi River to meet the water and irrigation needs of Hyderabad
• A large monolith statue of the Lord Buddha in the middle of the lake

Nagarjunasagar :

• On the Krishna River in Nalgonda district of Andhra Pradesh
• 125m high and 1450m long concrete dam
• 2 Canals – Jawahar Canal (349km) and Lal Bahadur Canal (357km)
• Irrigation -7 lakh hectares
• HEP- 100 MW

Tungabhadra :

• Joint venture of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh on the Tungabhadra River at Mallapur in Bellary district
• 50 m and 2441 m long straight gravity masonasy dam
• Two irrigation canals -41.32 lakh hectares
• Three power houses -126MW

Almatty Dam :

• Located on the Krishna River in the Bijapur district of Karnataka
• Main reservoir of the Upper Krishna Project
• HEP – 290 MW
• 52.25 m high and 1565.15 m long.

Linganamakki :

• Located on the Sharavati River about 6km upstream from the Jog Falls
• 2.4 km long and 193 feet high
• HEP capacity – 55MW

Shivanasamudra Dam:

• Shivanasamudra Dam (1902) is located on the Kaveri River.
•  It was built in Karnataka during the British era and was designed by Diwan Sheshadri Iyer.

Bhadra :

• Located on the Bhadra River, a tributary of the Krishna River, in Karnataka
• The project consists a dam and 2 canals
• Located 50km upstream of the point where the Bhadra River joins the Tungabhadra
• The Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the vicinity

Krishnaraj Sagar :

• Irrigation and HEP project on the Cauvery River near Mysore in Karnataka
• The Vrindavan Park is located near the dam
• Located in the Mandya district
• Named after the then ruler of the Mysore Kingdom, Krishnaraja Wodeyar
• Mokshagundam Visvesvarayaya served as the chief engineer

Chamraj Sagar :

• Built across the Arkavati River, about 35km from Bengaluru
• Attractive picnic spot for relaxation and fishing
• Supplies water to Bengaluru

Periyar Lake :

• Formed behind the Mulla Periyar Dam in Kerala inside the Periyar National Park
• Operated by Tamil Nadu Govt according to a 999- year lease agreement made during the erstwhile British Rule
• Area – 26 sq km
• The dam is 1200 feet long and 155 feet high
• Disputed between Tamil Nadu and Kerala
• Located after the coufluence of Mullaiyar and Periyar

Stanley Reservoir :

• Formed by the Mettur Dam in northwestern Tamin Nadu
• One of the largest fishing reservoirs of India
• Length of the dam – 1700m
• Installed capacity -240 MW

Bhavani Sagar :

• Located on the Bhavani River in the Erode district of Tamin Nadu
• Among the biggest earthen dams of India
• The dam is used to divert water to the Lower Bhavani Project Canal
• 32m high
• Reservoir Capacity -32.80tmc

Bansagar Project :

• Joint venture of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar on the Son on the Rewa- Shahdol way in Madhya Pradesh
• HEP – 405 MW
• Irrigation in Sidhi, Satna, Rewa and Shahdol districts of Madhya Pradesh

Matatila :

• On the Betwa River in Madhya Pradesh
• Joint project of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh
• Irrigation 1.09 lakh hectares in Uttar Pradesh and 1.16 lakh hectares on Madhya Pradesh
• Famous as Rani Lakshmibai Project

Rajghat Project :

• Joint venture of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh on the Betwa in Lalitpur of Uttar Pradesh
• Irrigation – cum – HEP project
• HEP capacity – 45 MW (3X15)

Gandhi Sagar :

• On the Chambal at the border of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan
• 64m high and 514 m long
• Irrigation – 4.44 lakh hectares
• HEP-5 units of 23000 KW each

Rana Pratap Sagar :

• On the Chambal at Rawatbhata
• 54m high and 1143 hectares
• HEP-4units of 43,000 KW each

Ravishankar Sagar Project :

• It is built across the Mahanadi river in the Dhamtari district, Chhattisgarh.
• It is the longest dam of Chhattisgarh.
• Alongwithtion it produces 10 MW of HEP
• It supplies water to the Bhiai steel plant.

Hasdo-Bango Project :

• It is built across the Hasdeo river in the Korba district, Chhattisgarh.
• It is the longest and highest dam of Chhattisgarh.
• Irrigation capacity : 2 ,55000 hectares
• It has three units of hydroelectric plant with the capacity of 40 MW each.