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Top 10 Major Dams in India: From our school days, we have been reading about the various dams in India. Competitive exam aspirants still face various questions related to dams of India. So in this article, we will discuss the different dams like the largest dam in India, the biggest dam in India, the longest dam in India, the highest dam in India etc.
Post-independence, India has done a lot of progress in building up of dams and water reservoirs. Now, India has become one of the world’s major dam builders. In India, there are almost 4200 small and big dams and many more are there on the list whose construction process is going on.
Interesting Facts:
- Kallanai Dam (Grand Anicut) is regarded as the oldest dam of the world and India
- World’s eighth highest dam called ‘Tehri’ dam is also in India, which is the highest dam in India.
Dams are one of the finest examples of great engineering works and they play an important role by blocking the flow of river water in order to generate hydroelectricity. They also provide water supply to a number of households, industries and other water-deficient areas.
Also Read: Top 10 Malls in India
Dams help in preventing floods and provide irrigation facilities and are also major tourist attractions as they are home to many breathtaking natural beauties, local wildlife, flora and fauna and also offer a number of water activities to tourists.
In this article, we are going to discuss about ten major dams in India.
So let’s begin…
1. Tehri Dam
With a height of 855 feet, it is the highest dam in India and the 8th highest dam in the world.
It is located in the mountainous Indian state of Uttarakhand on the Bhagirathi river and is famous for boating activities among the tourists.
This dam mostly provides irrigation to the nearby areas and is mainly used for the generation of hydroelectricity.
2. Sardar Sarovar Dam
This project is the biggest of all the projects been built and planned on the river Narmada.
With a height of 163 metres, Sardar Sarovar Dam is a major dam of India located in the state of Gujarat, which was inaugurated by the Honorable Prime Minister-Shri Narendra Modi in the year 2017.
This dam is about 1,210 metres long and is one of the major hydroelectricity generation points. It also has canals connected to it which serve for irrigation facilities.
3. Konya Dam
Built on the Konya river, Koyna dam, located in Maharashtra, is one of the very important dams of India as well as Maharashtra.
It has a height of 103 metres. Konya Dam was constructed for mainly hydroelectricity generation and to provide water supply to the nearby regions. It has a capacity of producing 1920 megawatt of electricity with powerful turbines which are fitted in it.
4. Bhakra Nangal Dam:
Do you know which is the biggest dam in India?
You guessed it right. It’s Bhakra Nangal Dam. It is also the second-highest Indian dam with a height of 226 metres.
Built on the Sutlej river in Himachal Pradesh, Bhakra Nangal dam has a capacity of producing 1325 MW of power. It is one of the very beautiful dams of India and is a very famous tourist destination.
5. Indira Sagar Dam
The next dam on our list of major dams of India is Indira Sagar Dam. It is one of the very powerful and big dams which is located in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.
Built on the Narmada river. its height is about 92 metres.
Indira Sagar Dam was mainly constructed to meet the demands of water shortage in the local area.
It has a reservoir with the capacity of 7,904,4541 acre-feet.
6. Hirakud Dam
With a length of 26 kilometres, Hirakud Dam is one of the longest dams in India. It is built on the Mahanadi river.
Located in the state of Orissa, it is one of the most famous dams of India which has two observatory towers called “Jawahar Minar” and “Gandhi Minar” respectively.
It was built on the guidelines of a multi-purpose project. The main purpose is controlling the flood and irrigation and power generation.
7. Nagarjuna Sagar Dam
Nagarjuna Sagar dam is India’s as well as the world’s largest masonry dam. It was built on the holy Krishna river which is located in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
Nagarjuna Sagar Dam is one of the finest examples of Indian architectural and technological development. It is stretched over a length of 1.6 km and has about 26 Gates
This is regarded as the largest lake in the world which is made by mankind. It has a capacity of 816 MW power generation.
8. Mettur Dam
Located in the Salem district of Tamilnadu, it is one of the most famous and historic dams in India. Built-in the year 1934, this dam is this one of the oldest Indian dams.
It has the largest power generation capacity in comparison to other dams located in Tamilnadu.
With a height of 120 feet, this dam not only contributes to power generation but is also very important from the tourism point of view in Tamil Nadu
It is constructed on the Kaveri river and is one of the most visited tourist destinations of Tamilnadu.
9. Rihand Dam
Popularly known as ‘Govind Ballabh Pant Sagar’, Rihand Dam is regarded as the largest dam (in terms of volume) in India.
It is also one of the very old dams which were built in the year between 1954-62.
It is located in the state of Uttar Pradesh and has a capacity of 300 MW.
10. Krishna Raja Sagar Dam
Krishna Raja Sagar Dam is the last dam in our list of top 10 major dams of India. It is one of the major and largest dams of India which is constructed on the Kaveri river.
This dam is located in Karnataka and is one of the very beautiful and famous dams of India, plus, very important from the fact that it produces a major amount of hydroelectricity.
It has Brindavan Gardens which is really very beautiful and loved by the tourists and makes it one of the best dams in India.
So, here ends our list of the top 10 major dams in India. There are several other dams which are also very important and have contributed a lot to the country.
Visiting these dams is really not a bad idea! You will definitely enjoy nature and its beauty.
Hope you found this article helpful.
