Major Dams of India

Dam
Dam - A barrier that stops or restricts the flow of water
Reservoirs created by dams suppress floods, provide water for
irrigation, electricity, source of drinking water, industrial use,
aquaculture, and navigability

Types of Dams (based on structure)

Arch Dam:
 An arch dam is a concrete dam that is curved upstream in the plan.
 It is designed so that the hydrostatic pressure (force of the water against it)
presses against the arch, causing the arch to straighten slightly and
strengthening the structure

Gravity Dam
 Dams constructed from concrete or stone masonry are
Gravity dams.
 They are designed to hold back water by using only the
weight of the material and its resistance against the
foundation to oppose the horizontal pressure of water
pushing against it.
 These are designed in such a way that each section of the
dam is stable and independent of other section.
 Major Dams of India www.parchamclasses.in

Arch-Gravity Dam: This dam has the characteristics of both an arch dam and a gravity
dam.
Barrages: A barrage is a type of low-head, diversion dam which consists of a number of
large gates that can be opened or closed to control the amount of water passing
through.

Embankment Dams:
It is typically created by the placement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic
mound of various compositions of soil, sand, clay, or rock.
It has a semi-pervious waterproof natural covering for its surface and a dense,
impervious core.
Materials used for embankment dams include natural soil or rock, or waste materials
obtained from mining or milling operations.

Earth-fill dam
Dam built up by compacting successive layers of earth, using the most impervious materials to form a core and
placing more permeable substances on the upstream and downstream sides.

Dams and Destruction

 Affect the Aquatic Life: Dams prevent fish migration and limit their ability to access spawning habitat, seek
out food resources, and escape predation.
 Dams block Rivers: Dams and reservoirs are physical barriers to the flow of water bodies as they fragment
them and reservoirs, which impact their seasonal flow.
 A Hazardous Infrastructure: potential for a massive loss of human lives, livelihoods, and destruction in the
event of failure. Older Dams are Greater Hazard
 Reservoir Induced Seismicity: There is a strong relationship between the earthquakes and the loading and
unloading of water from the dam.
 Displacement of People - Sardar Sarovar Dam, the largest structure on the Narmada river, has displaced
over 3 lakh families.
 Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Particularly in tropical regions. The water gathers behind the dam, creates an
unnatural, stagnant lake that often kills off a lot of the existing ecosystem. Bacteria in the water decompose
these plants and generate carbon dioxide and methane

Superlatives in Dams in India

Highest Dam in India Tehri Dam (Uttarakhand) Bhagirathi River
Longest Dam in India Hirakud Dam (Odisha) Mahanadi River
Oldest Dam in India Kallanai Dam (Tamil Nadu) Kaveri River
Highest gravity dam Bhakra Nangal Dam (Himachal Pradesh) Sutlej River
Biggest Arch Dam of India Idukki Dam (Kerala) Periyar River

JAMMU & KASHMIR

Dam River

Uri Dam Jhelum

Dulhasti Dam Chenab

Salal Dam
Baglihar Dam

Pakal dul dam (under construction) Marusudar river (tributary of the Chenab River)

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HIMACHAL PRADESH
Dam River

Bhakra Nangal Dam Sutlej

Length - 520m
Himachal Pradesh & Punjab

Pong Dam Beas

Nathpa Jhakri Dam Sutlej river

Koldam Dam Sutlej river

Chamera Dam Ravi

Bhakra Nangal Dam

• India's 2nd tallest at 225 m. Highest gravity dam
• Bhakra Dam – Himachal; Nangal Dam - Punjab
• Reservoir of Bhakra Dam - Gobind Sagar
• Described as "New Temple of Resurgent India" by Jawaharlal Nehru
• Nangal dam is another dam downstream of Bhakra dam.
• Sometimes both the dams together are called Bhakra-Nangal dam though they are two separate dams.

PUNJAB
Dam River

Ranjith Sagar Dam Ravi River

Also known as Thein Dam
(On border of Punjab and J&K)

Nangal Dam Sutlej

UTTARAKHAND
Dam River

Tehri Dam Bhagirathi

Tallest Dam in India
Height: 260.5 meters

Koteshwar Dam Bhagirathi

Dhauliganga Dam Dhauliganga River

Song dam Song river

Baigul dam Baigul (sukhi) river

Dhora dam Dhora river

Nanak Sagar Dam Deoha river (tributary of Ramganga)

Lakhwar Vyasi Dam Yamuna

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UTTAR PRADESH
Dam River

Rihand Dam/ Rihand River

Govind Ballabh Pant Sagar (Reservoir in UP & (tributary of the Son River)
MP border) Rani Laxmibai Dam
Rihand Dam
Rani Laxmibai dam (Rajghat Dam) Betwa River
Matatila Dam (UP & MP) Matatila Dam

ODISHA
Dam River

Hirakud Dam Mahanadi

Longest Dam in India
Total Length: 25.79 km
Length of Main Dam:4.8 km

Indravati Dam Indravati (tributary of Godavari)

Kapur Dam Kapur

Rengali Dam Brahmani

Haldia Dam Haldia

JHARKHAND
Dam River
Tilaiya Dam

Tilaiya Dam Barakar (a tributary of Damodar river)

Maithon Dam
Panchet Dam
Panchet Dam Damodar river Maithon Dam

Konar Konar river

Damodar Valley Multipurpose Project operates in the Damodar River area of West Bengal and Jharkhand: Tilaiya
Dam (1953), Konar Dam (1955), Maithon Dam (1957), Panchet Dam (1959)

WEST BENGAL
Dam River

Farakka Barrage Ganga

Mayurakshi Dam Mayurakshi

Farakka Barrage is a barrage across the Ganga river located in Murshidabad

district in the Indian state of West Bengal, roughly 18 kilometres from the
border with Bangladesh near Shibganj.

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MADHYA PRADESH
Dam River

Gandhi Sagar Dam Chambal River (tributary of Yamuna)

Indra Sagar Dam Narmada River

Omkareshwar Dam Narmada

Tawa Dam Tawa river (tributary of Narmada

Matatila Dam (UP & MP) Betwa River

Daudhan Dam Ken river

Bansagar dam Sone (tributary of Ganga)

Chambal project 3 Dams:
Gandhi Sagar Dam (M.P.),
Rana Pratap Sagar and Jawahar Sagar Dam or Kota Dam (Rajasthan)

Daudhan Dam
• The Daudhan dam is a part of the Ken-Betwa river link project,
which is India's first river linking project.
• The dam is located on the Ken river, inside the core area of the
Panna Tiger Reserve.
• The dam will store water to be transported to the Betwa basin
through link canals
• The construction of the dam will submerge 10% of the critical tiger
habitat in the Panna Tiger Reserve.

RAJASTHAN
Dam River

Bisalpur Dam Banas River

Rana Pratap Sagar dam Chambal River (tributary of

Jawahar Sagar Dam (Kota Dam) Yamuna)

Mahi Bajaj Sagar Dam Mahi river

Bisalpur Dam Banas

Jaswant Sagar Dam Luni

Chambal project 3 Dams:

Gandhi Sagar Dam (M.P.),
Rana Pratap Sagar and Jawahar Sagar Dam or Kota Dam (Rajasthan)

GUJARAT
Dam River

Sardar Sarovar Narmada

Ukai Dam Tapti

Kakrapar Dam

Kadana Dam Mahi

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Karjan Karjan (tributary of Narmada)

Sipu Dam Sipu (tributary of Banas)

MAHARASHTRA
Dam River

Koyna Dam Koyna River

Ujani Dam/ Bhima dam Bhima River
Jayakwadi Dam Godavari River

TELANGANA
Dam River

Nagarjuna Sagar Krishna

Telangana & AP Nagarjuna Sagar
Srisailam (Telangana & AP) Krishna Dam
Pochampad dam Godavari River
(Sriram Sagar Project)

Nizamsagar Dam, Manjira (tributary of Godavari)

Singur Dam

Nagarjuna Sagar Dam & Srisailam Dam are located at the border of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh

ANDHRA PRADESH
Dam River

Srisailam Dam Krishna River

Somasila Dam Pennar River

Polavaram Project (under construction) Godavari

The Polavaram Project is an under construction multi-purpose irrigation project. It

has been accorded National project status by the Central Government of India. It
will facilitate an inter-basin transfer from Godavari to Krishna river basin.

Karnataka
Dam River

Krishna Raja Sagara Dam Kaveri River

Tungabhadra Dam Tungabhadra River

Basavasagar Dam, Krishna River

Almatti Dam (Lal Bahadur Shastri Dam)

Malaprabha Project (Renuka Sagara Dam) Malaprabha River (tributary of Krishna River)

Ghataprabha dam/Hidkal Dam Ghataprabha (tributary of Krishna River)

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KERALA
Dam River

Idukki Dam Periyar

Biggest Arch Dam of India

Mullaperiyar Dam Periyar

Banasura Sagar Dam Kabini (tributary of Kaveri)

Walayar Dam Walayar River

Lower Sholayar Dam Chalakkudi River

TAMIL NADU
Dam River

Kallanai Dam Kaveri

(Oldest Dam in India)

Mettur Dam Kaveri

Bhavanisagar Dam or Lower Bhavani Dam Bhavani river (tributary of Kaveri)

Kunda dam (in Ooty) Bhavani river

Upper Sholayar Dam Chalakkudi River

MISCELLANEOUS
Dam State River

Dudhawa Dam Chhattisgarh Mahanadi

Gangrel Dam Chhattisgarh Mahanadi

Hasdeo Bango Dam Chhattisgarh Hasdeo

Nagi Dam & Nakti Dam Bihar Nagi & Nakti resp

Kohira Dam Bihar Kohira

Rangit Sikkim Rangit

(tributary of Teesta)

Ranganadi Arunachal Pradesh Ranganadi

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