The Tehri Dam

The Tehri Dam is situated in the Tehri Garhwal district in Uttarakhand, India. This multi-purpose rock and earth-fill embankment dam is the tallest dam in the country. The dam was built in 2006 for providing water to generate electricity, irrigation as well as municipal water supply. The sediment trap efficiency of the dam is 95%. It was designed in a manner to make it capable of offsetting 150 years of sedimentation. Tehri dam river is the Bhagirathi River of Uttarakhand. This dam is a primary part of the Tehri Hydro Development Corporation Ltd. and Tehri hydroelectric complex. Standing tall as one of the highest dams in Asia, the Tehri Dam is a multi-purpose dam with a reservoir that generates around 1,000 MW of hydroelectricity.

Features of Tehri Dam

Tehri Dam is about 855 ft high (260.5 m) with a length of 1,886 ft (575 m), crest width of 66 ft (20 m) and base width of 3,071 ft (1,128 m).

The reservoir of the dam is 3,200,000 acre-ft (4.0 cubic kilometres), having a surface area of 20 sq mi (52 km2).

1,000 MW is the installed hydro capacity of the dam. In addition, there is an additional 1,000 MW of pumped-storage hydroelectricity.

The Koteshwar Dam downstream creates the lower reservoir for the dam’s pumped-storage plant.

The dam helps in distributing power to the states of Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh.

History of Tehri Dam

Under the ministry of India’s first prime minister, Jawahar Lal Nehru, a preliminary investigation of the dam was completed in 1961. The design was completed in 1972 and had a 600 MW capacity power plant.

In 1978, the construction of the dam started after studying all the possibilities. However, the construction got delayed because there were various financial constraints and social and environmental impacts.

The USSR provided their technical and financial assistance in 1986, which also witnessed the interference of political instability. Thus, the project’s control ended up in the hands of India.

The project was first given to Uttar Pradesh’s Irrigation Department. But, the Tehri Hydro Development Corporation was established for managing the dam in 1988. The funding’s responsibility was 75% of the federal government and 25% of the state. It was decided that Uttar Pradesh will be responsible for financing the project’s whole irrigation portion.

Environmental Issues Surrounding Tehri Dam

The Tehri Dam has been a controversial dam ever since its establishment. Various environmental organisations and local people have protested against the dam. There was even an Anti-Tehri Dam Struggle Committee that highlighted the consequences of this project.

Virendra Dutt Saklani was the founder of this committee. The anti-Tehri Dam movement began around the 1980s and continued till 2004. It was led by Sunderlal Bahuguna, who was an environmental activist.

The main concern was that the construction of the town would lead to the displacement of the inhabitants of the village and damage the ecosystem, which was already weak. Thus, the human rights concerns along with the environmental consequences were the main issue.

Further, there were also objections to the geological stability of this large dam as it was situated in a major geologic fault zone, the Central Himalayan Seismic Gap. Thus, if an earthquake occurred, it could lead to the destruction of the dam, which would result in the submergence of multiple towns nearby.

Since the filling of the reservoir began in 2005, the flow of the Bhagirathi River has reduced. This led to local protests as the river is a sacred part of the beliefs of the Hindu religion. Thus, there has been a lot of resentment amongst the believers. However, the officials claim that the river’s flow will return to normal when the reservoir is filled completely. Therefore, we see that despite various protests and concerns, the dam is in operation.

Tourism and Tehri Dam

As it is one of the tallest dams in the world, Tehri Dam attracts many visitors and tourists to New Tehri. It has become an ideal weekend getaway destination for many people residing near the area. The Tehri Lake Festival is also held during the summers to attract more tourists.

Moreover, the government has also introduced various water sports to promote adventure tourism in the state. There are aerial sports as well that include paragliding.  Water sports include jet-skiing, banana boat rides, etc.

Conclusion

Tehri Dam has gone through many trials and tribulations and still stands strong. It even went through an earthquake of 6.9 magnitudes. The dam is now one of the most important sources of water as well as electricity for numerous villages and cities. It also brings in a lot of revenue for the tourism sector and has boosted it significantly. Things like boating, diving, sightseeing, etc. make the town of Tehri a must-visit place. The dam has become an essential asset to the country.