Dams are barriers built across rivers to store water and generate hydroelectricity. They create reservoirs that supply water for irrigation, cities, and flood control. India has over 4,300 large dams that generate power and are major tourist attractions. Some of India's largest dams include the Tehri Dam, the highest dam in India; the Bhakra Nangal Dam, the largest gravity dam; the Hirakud Dam, one of the longest dams in the world; the Nagarjunasagar Dam, the world's largest masonry dam; and the Sardar Sarovar Dam, the largest dam over the Narmada River. Dams provide water storage and hydroelectric power, but some projects
2. What is a dam?
• A barrier built across a river to create a lake or
for generation hydroelectricity.
3. Why are dams useful?
• As a result water is stored in a lake that will form
upstream of dam. The main purpose of the most of
the dams is to create a reservoir of water to use at a
later time. There are different types of dams like
concrete dams, arch dams and earth dams. The
design and construction of a dam depends upon its
purpose and location as well as materials and
workforce available. Dams are extremely useful to
us for they help to control floods and supply water to
dams and cities. Dams also generate hydroelectric
power, and the water stored in the lake is useful for
irrigation of crops. The lake that forms behind the
dam can be useful for water sports and leisure
activities. Often, large dams become tourist
attractions of their own sight.
4. How should a dam be?
• A dam must be waterlight, and must be also stable. The
dam wall must have sufficient strength to firstly bear its
own weight and secondly to resist the water pressure in
the lake upstream of the dam. It must have an outlet
valve to release water in controlled amounts as required.
It also needs a spillway so that large volumes of flood
water can flow around it without causing any damage to
the structure itself.
6. India in the world of dams
• After independence we have made lots of progress in
Dam and Water Reservoirs, Now India is one of the
world’s most prolific dam-builders. Around 4300 large
dams already constructed and many more in the
pipeline, Almost half of which are more than twenty
years old. These dams are major attraction of tourists
from all over India. Some facts about the Indian dams
are that The Tehri Dam is the eighth highest dam in the
world. The Idukki dam is the first Indian arch dam in
Periyar River Kerala is the largest arch dam in Asia. The
Grand Anicut, Kallanai, located on Holy Kaveri River in
Tamil Nadu, is the oldest dam in the world. Indira Sagar
Dam is the Largest Reservoir in India. These dams with
the channel provides an ideal environment for wildlife.
8. • 1. Tehri Dam: Tehri Dam located on the Bhagirathi
River, Uttaranchal now become Uttarakhand. Tehri Dam
is the highest dam in India, With a height of 261 meters
and the eighth tallest dam in the world.
Tehri Dam
9. • 2. Bhakra Nangal Dam: Bhakra Nangal Dam is a gravity dam
across the sutlej river Himachal Pradesh. Bhakra Nangal is the
largest gravity dam in India, with a height of 225 meters. Its
reservoir, known as the “Gobind Sagar Lake” it is the second largest
reservoir in India, the first being Indira Sagar dam.
Bhakra Nangal Dam
10. • 3. Hirakud Dam: Hirakud dam built across the Mahanadi
River in Orissa. Hirakud Dam is one of the longest dams
in the world about 26 km in length. There are two
observation towers on the dam one is “Gandhi Minar”
and another one is “Nehru Minar”.
Hirakud Dam
11. • 4. Nagarjunasagar Dam: Nagarjuna Sagar Dam is the
world’s largest masonry dam with a height of 124
meters, built across Krishna River in Andhra Pradesh.
Nagarjuna Sagar Dam is certainly the pride of India-
considered the largest man-made lake in the world.
Nagarjunasagar Dam
12. • 5. Sardar Sarovar Dam: Sardar Sarovar Dam also known as
“Narmada Dam” is the largest dam to be built, with a height of
138 meters, over the Sacred Narmada River in Gujarat.
Drought prone areas of Kutch and Saurashtra will get irrigate
by this project. The Narmada dam is India’s most
controversial dam project.
Sardar Sarovar Dam
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presentation.
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