The Indira Sagar Dam on the River Narmada is India’s largest dam. This dam covers 913 sq. kilometres and is located in the Indian State of Madhya Pradesh’s Khandwa district, in Narmada Nagar, Punasa. If you’re curious about this dam’s construction need, continue reading the next part.

What to Know About the ISP Goal

The primary objectives of the Indira Sagar Pariyojana (Project) are to generate a significant amount of hydroelectric power and supply irrigation. That is why the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation and Madhya Pradesh Irrigation worked together to build the dam.

In the Madhya Pradesh districts of Khandwa and Khargone, it serves irrigation to 1,230 square kilometres of land with an annual production of 2.7 billion units. It generates 1,000 MW of installed capacity electricity.

Indira Sagar Project

The project utilized an innovative design approach for the first time in India. The 880 meters radius alignment of the 92 meters high and 653 meters long concrete dam across the River Narmada was slightly bent. 

One hundred villages and a town of 22,000 people were evacuated in order to construct it. Can you imagine how many people would have to leave in order to construct the dam? That proves that this reservoir is indeed India’s largest dam.

Cornerstone

On October 23, 1984, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi laid the project’s cornerstone. The main dam’s construction got underway in 1992. Omkareshwar, Maheshwar, and the Sardar Sarovar Project are ISP’s downstream projects.

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Construction

The project calls for building a 249 km long canal, a surface powerhouse with an installed capacity of 1000 MW (8×125), and a concrete gravity dam measuring 92 meters high and 653 meters long. A reservoir with a 7.90 million acre-foot capacity for live storage will be built upon completion.

The dam will be 262.19 meters tall above sea level. The height was approved to increase to 238 meters in January 2003 and to the present elevation of 245.17 meters in September.

Capacity

A concrete gravity dam with an earthen dam that is 9.03 meters high and 688 meters long and a surface powerhouse that can house eight units of 125 MW each is 92 meters high at the deepest base and 653 meters long at the top.

Indira Sagar Dam has a 12.22 billion cubic meter water storage capacity. Without a doubt, it was India’s largest dam. 

Cost

At 1990 price levels, the power component is estimated to cost Rs 1575 crore (190 million USD) and is planned to be finished through a partnership with the National Hydroelectric Power Company.

Using state funds and assistance from the Indian government as part of the Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Program, the irrigation infrastructure, such as the canal, is expected to cost Rs. 591.98 crores (71 million USD) at 1990 pricing levels. So, this is how expensive it is to build India’s largest dam.

NHPC

An energy company that develops, encourages, and coordinates the construction of hydropower facilities is called NHPC Ltd., a Government of India company. The corporation also uses hydro, wind, and solar energy. NHPC’s services cover the production of conventional and non-conventional resources in India and overseas.

It sells energy on a wholesale basis through long-term power purchase agreements to electrical utilities run by state governments or private corporations. 

Consequences of the ISP

Just like any other major development, there are drawbacks that the nation’s civilization must deal with. The construction of the Indira Sagar Dam raised concerns about social, environmental, and health issues.

Environmental and Social Concerns

The largest project in history, the Indira Sagar Project, which is about to be finished in Andhra Pradesh, raises several socioeconomic and environmental issues. Many tribal tribes have been uprooted by the project, straining the local social structure and bringing structural violence concerns to light.

Regarding environmental issues, the Indira Sagar Project increases the region’s vulnerability to ecosystem disturbance caused, among other things, by landslides and erosion.

Health Concerns

In India, there has been very little research on the Health Impact Assessment (HIA) of Water Development Projects (WDP) concerning illnesses spread by mosquitoes. The current study focuses on utilizing HIA to determine how the Indira Sagar Project affected human health concerning illnesses spread by mosquitoes.

The provision of ideal temperature and humidity, as well as the establishment of optimal breeding grounds, encourage the growth of disease vectors and pathogens, which has indirect consequences that are obvious in terms of vector-borne illnesses. 

The creation of ideal breeding grounds for vector mosquitoes, flies, and snails infected previously uninhabited areas with many vector-borne diseases, including malaria, schistosomiasis, and lymphatic filariasis, according to numerous earlier studies that evaluated the effect of catchment areas on human health.

Also, it was shown that those who lived close to dams and reservoir sites had a greater risk of developing vector-borne illnesses than those who lived farther away. Massive dam construction not only worsens vector-borne illnesses in impacted areas but also degrades water quality, which promotes the development of diseases, including cholera, salmonellosis, and amoebiasis.

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Frequently Asked Questions

The Bottom Line: What We Know

The Indira Sagar, India’s largest dam in the Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh, near Narmadanagar, Mundi, on the Narmada River, is a multifunctional project of the state.

Environmental, social, and health issues will inevitably occur as a result of its goal of improving irrigation and power generation. Yet even if it has significantly impacted a nation’s people, it is still highly helpful for everyone to live civilised lives.