Dams of India

Dams of India have been built across many perennial rivers since the independence of India. These dams in India are a part of several multi-purpose projects to serve a variety of needs. In a multi-purpose project, a river forms a unit and a river valley is developed, by exploiting all the resources of the river. Basically, dams are built to harness the river water so that it can be utilised according to the needs. A multipurpose project is launched often for storing water for irrigation purposes, generating hydro-electricity by utilising the water stored by the dams, preventing floods and facilitating afforestation in the catchments areas of the reservoirs. Moreover, the dams also provide drinking water, using the canals for navigation in some areas and also facilitating pisciculture and recreational activities. The main multipurpose projects constituting Indian dams are the Hirakud Dam in Orissa, the Bhakra-Nangal Project in Punjab, the Damodar Valley Project in Bihar and West Bengal, the Tungabhadra Project in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, the Rihand Project in Uttar Pradesh.

Advantages of Dams of India
In the year 1947, there were around 300 large dams throughout the country and number gradually increased by 2000 when it reached to almost 4000. India holds a strong position in the list of dam building countries, after US and China. Primarily some of the dams in India were constructed for the prevention of floods, supplying water for irrigation and generation of electricity. Dam construction is considered as one of the greatest investments in the field of irrigation.

Most irrigation dams in India are embankment dams, meaning that they consist of a wall built across a river valley to impound water so as to form a reservoir upstream and a system of spillways and gates to bypass the wall so as to maintain normal river flow and convey water to a network of canals feeding irrigated regions downstream. The upstream areas that feed the dam and those submerged by its