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With 4.8 kilometres, the Hirakud Dam spans the Mahanadi River and is the longest dam in India. It became one of the first initiatives handled in a post-independence era. On 12 April-1948, Jawahar Lal Nehru, the nation’s first Prime Minister, laid the foundation stone for the Dam. Mazumdar Group was constituted to assess the scientific quality and viability of the project, which cost over 1 billion dollars in the old period, for sufficient monitoring. Originally, the Committee estimated that the Dam would cost roughly 94 crores and that it would be completed by June 1955.
Completion of Hirakud project
Unexpectedly, the hirakud project started in 1953; on 12 Jan 1957, Pandit Nehru formally opened the project. But, the Dam had just begun to generate electricity and provide agricultural irrigation by 1966, when it was completely operational. Hirakud is India’s Longest earthen Dam, situated 10 kilometres near Odisha’s Sambalpur district ( A dam made of earthen materials). To guard against coastal erosion, it contains a lump of clay or other impermeable core with rock projecting crushed stone. ‘Gandhi Minar’ and ‘Jawahar Minar’ are two observation platforms atop the Hirakud dam.
Purpose of Hirakud Project
The Dam at Hirakud serves two purposes. On one side, the higher Mahanadi River drainage system in the Chhattisgarh Plains experiences frequent famine; on either hand, the low delta zone faces a significant risk of agricultural destruction owing to floods. This hirakud project’s main goal was to solve the difficulties by building a reservoir and managing the river’s movement through the drainage network. Although the Dam controls the Mahanadi River’s current, various hirakud hydroelectric projects contribute to electricity generation. This wall not only serves to manage river floods during the monsoon season but also serves to irrigate over 75,000 square kilometres of land.
Although the Mahanadi River dam governs a region of 83,400 sq. km, it also covers an area of 133,090 sq. km, more than twice the size of Sri Lanka. In addition, the Dam irrigates 1000s of sq. km of Kharif & Rabi crops in the regions of Sambalpur, Subarnpur, etc. The Hirakud dam’s subsequent hydroelectric plant, the Chiplima venture, became popular. Fishers that follow the Ghanteswari god live in the surrounding area. The state’s cattle facility and agricultural field are both in the region. The Bargarh Major Canal, the Season Waterway, and the Sambalpur Canal are the main canals that make up the vast hirakud project. According to the most recent figures, the Dam’s reservoir has decreased by moreover 28% owing to flooding and erosion. As a result, many concepts for such an inter-basin water discharge have been explored as elements of India’s massive Indian Rivers Inter-link project.
Consequences of the Project
At the moment, the Hirakud project is facilitating energy supply to an aluminium plant in Hirakud, paper factories in Brajrajnagar, concrete projects in Rajgangpur, a steel and metal processing facility in Rourkela, and a variety of other businesses in Cuttack, Bolangir, or other districts.
Although the Dam’s main goal was to reduce floods, the building of such a large dam project resulted in the eviction of numerous locals in West Odisha; the building impacted well over 1,50,000 individuals, and over 22,000 households were relocated due to it. The administration had initially intended to pay well over $120 million to such afflicted families; however, the updated accounts reveal an allotment of just over $95 million. On the other hand, residents claim that just $33.2 million was distributed. Thousands of families relocated from 1956 to the present have yet to be compensated.
Submerged Temples
During the warmer months, the Dam’s water subsides, revealing the ruins of temples drowned in during the creation of the Hirakud project in the twentieth century. Many scholars observed the importance of such temples in the years after the Dam’s completion and became interested in learning more about their past. Even though many temples have indeed been extinct due to their decades-long underwater life, a few structures have survived. Historians became interested in such temples after two rocks surfaced with the inscription ‘Shila Lekha.’ The boulders are said to have formed the basis of the Padmasini temple in Padmapur hamlet, now underwater.
During the Dam’s creation, well over 200 temples were flooded, with over 150 having died and 50 having withstood the ravages of time. The surviving temples provide a unique chance for scuba divers to explore the Hirakud Dam’s underside. During the hot months of June and July, visitors would see the underwater ruins while on a boating excursion.
Conclusion
Hirakud Dam seems to be the world’s longest earthen Dam, forming Asia’s biggest artificial lake with 746 square kilometres and a coastline of over 640 kilometres out from the summit of the Gandhi Minar spinning tower. Driving along the dike provides a distinct sense of serene tranquillity and natural magnificence. The multi-purpose Hirakud Dam spans the Mahanadi River. The objectives of this hirakud hydroelectric project were to manage floods, provide water for cultivation, and generate electricity. The Dam’s erection began in the 1940s.
