MULTIPURPOSE RIVER VALLEY PROJECTS IN INDIA

1. Bhakhra Nangal Project = Punjab, Harayana, Rajasthan

- > Its a joint venture of Punjab, Harayana, Rajasthan. - > Its is India's biggest multi-purpose river valley project so far completed at a cost of Rs.236 Cr. - > It consists of a straight gravity dam, 518 mts long & 226 mts high across the Sutlej at Bhakhra. - > The Bhakhra dam impounds 986.8 Cr cubic mts of water. - > The canal system of the project is now irrigating 14.8 lakh hectares. - > It generates 1204 MW electricity.
2. Chambal Project = Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan

- > The Chambal project being jointly executed by M.P & Rajasthan. - > In the 1st stage, the Gandhi Sagar dam & its 115 MW power station & the Kota barrage were completed. - > The Rana Pratap Sagar dam with a power house of 172 MW capacity was constructed in the 2nd stage. - > The 3rd stage comprises the construction of the Jawahar Sagar dam & 99 MW power station. - > With the completion of all the stages, the project will generate 386MW of power.
3.Damodar Valley Project = Jharkhand , West Bengal

- > This project conceived for the unified development of irrigation, flood control & power generation in W.B & Jharkhand. - > The project is administered by the Damodar Valley Corporation established in 1948. - > The irrigation potential of the project is about 5.51 lakh hectares & its installed power generation capacity is 1181MW. - > It is designed on the lines of Tennesse Valley Authority in the USA.
4. Farakka Barrage = West Bengal

- > It consists of a barrage across the Ganaga at Farakka, another barrage at Jangipur across the Bhagirathi, a 39 km long feeder canal taking off from the right bank of teh Ganga, at Farakka & tailing into the Bhagirathi below the Jangipur Barrage . - > road - cum - rail bridge over the Farakka barrage have already been completed. The basic Aim of Farakka barrage is to preserve & mountain Calcutta port & to improve the navigatability of the Hooghly river. - > Farakka is to use 40,000 cusecs of Waterout of water stored in the dam to flush the Calcutta port which is get silted up.
5. Indira Gandhi Canal

- > It is one of the biggest irrigation project in the world. - > began in 1958 as Rajasthan Canal. - > it will provide irrigation facility to N.W region of Rajasthan a part of Thar desert. - > The project which the use water from the Pong dam consists of 215 km long Rajasthan feeder

canal & 445 km long Rajasthan main canal lying entirely in Rajasthan. - > The project will ultimately irrigate about 14.5 lakh hectares.
6. Hirakud Project = Orissa

- > the 4801.2 mts long main Hirakud dam in Orissa is on the river Mahanadi. - > its world's longest dam. - > The project migrates irrigation an area of 11.98 lakh hectares. - > its present installed power generation capacity is 27.2MW.
7. Kakrapura project = Gujarat

- > it is on the river Tapti, 80km upstream of surat, - > it is being built by Gujarat government - > a 621 mts long & 14 mts high weir near Kakrapara in Surat district was completed in 1963.
8. Koyna project = Maharashtra - > it is on the river Koyna & has been built by the Government of Maharashtra.

- > it comproses the construction of a 208 ft. high dam 9. Nagarjuna Sagar project = Andhra pradesh - > it is undertaking of the government of A.P. for utilizing the water of the Krishna river. - > it was inaugurated on AUg 4 1967. - > it is suited near Nandikonda Village in Miryalguda Taluk of Nalagonda District. - > it is of 1450 mts long & 92 mts high dam. - > the project will ultimately irrigate about 8.95 lakh hectares.
10. Rihand project = U.P

- > This project comprises construction of a concrete gravity dam across the Rihand river in Mirzapur districtU.P. & a power house at Pipri & neccessary transamission lines.
11. Thien Dam = Punjab

- > a 147 mts high dam built by the Punjab government at Thien Village acorss the Ravi 25 km. upstream of Madhopur head works. - > it will irrigate 8 lakh hectares land & generate 600MW power renamed as Ranjit Sagar dam it was dedicated to the nation on March 4 2001 by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpaee.
12. Tungabhadra project = Karnataka & Andhra Pradesh

- > it is a joint undertaking by the government of A.P & Karnataka. - > it comprises a 2441 mt long & 49.38 high dam the river Tungbhadra near Malipuram. - > it irrigates about 10.22 hectres land.

Example 1: Bhakra
Ecological Improvement To setup appropriate environmental objects, targets and their achievements as per Environment Management Plan (EMP) ensuring their continual improvement. To undertake the studies for implementation of NEERI Report for safe disposal of silt from BSL Project. To give guidelines to Chief Engineers to conduct regular meetings with stake-holders of Environmental Projects and the public for redressal of their problems/grievances and to maintain harmony with them. Setting up of fully equipped central laboratories at all project stations for conducting silt analysis, chemical and bacteriological tests for checking the performance of potable water, treatment plants, sewage treatment plants etc. Identification of green belts & development of parks, nurseries, gardens in the spare land of BBMB. To check encroachments along the roads to stop choking of drains, supply lines, sewer lines etc. To prepare proper solid waste management plans for its safe and scientific disposal around the project areas. To prepare Catchment Area Treatment and Fringe Area Treatment plans and to implement the plans while coordinating with H.P. Govt. Authorities. To remain in touch with H.P. and Central Pollution Control Boards for latest guidelines, innovations, instructions in the environment field. To start an Awareness Programme among BBMB employees to plant more and more trees/plants around their residences/colonies. To attend seminars, publish papers relating to the steps undertaken and results gained and to conduct pilot studies, if found necessary. Environmental Upgradation of Power Plants and Project Colonies by having ISO:14000 Certification. Community Services in peripheral Area of the area of the projects in Environmental Sector.

Beas

Management

Board

BBMBs pursuit under Environment Management

Environment Management Water Resources of India are contributing to the prosperity of the country a lot in general and Northern India in particular through River Valley Developmental Projects like Bhakra-Beas Project. Concern for environmental pollution is rather a recent phenomenon emerged from the ill-effects of industrial growth through the planning process which somehow overlooked the role of natural resources in developmental activities. Over the years, the information accumulated in course of working of River Valley Projects, revealed that the River Valley Projects like all other developmental projects, have been beneficial but have some adverse impacts. These impacts must be carefully assessed and balanced for achieving sustained benefits. All River Valley Projects Irrigation Power and Multipurpose, began to be referred to the Govt. of India for environmental clearance in 1978. The objective of environmental impact assessment is to ensure that development proceeds hand-in-had with ecological preservation so as to achieve sustained growth. The objective of considering environmental aspects as integral part of development projects is to achieve: Sustained development with minimum environmental degradation. Prevention of long-term environmental side effects by incorporating mitigative measures.

Environment Management In BBMB Projects All the three-river valley projects managed by BBMB i.e. Bhakra-Nangal, BSL Project and Beas Dam Project were planned and executed before 1978 when environmental clearance from Govt. of India was made mandatory. The EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) studies of BBMB Projects show that the beneficial impacts of BBMB Projects are much more compared to the negative impacts. Bhakra and Beas Projects being the multi-purpose projects have brought Green Revolution in the country. Bhakra And Beas Reservoirs have saved the regional ecology from the devastating floods. These Reservoirs have provided a source of tourism and fish production enhancement. In addition, BBMB Projects brought socio-economic upliftment of the Region by way of enhanced employment opportunities on BBMB Projects, better energy and irrigation facilities, enhanced industrialization, ecological improvement in the downstream areas of the dams due to non-devastation of floods etc. Green & Industrial Revolution BBMB also started studying and evaluating the post-construction status of environmental components and assessing the impacts, if any, for short-term and long-term mitigative measures.

BBMB is also evaluating and improving the environmental status for all the project colonies under its management in respect of potable water, waste water, solid waste management and hospital wastes etc. BBMB is improving ecological environment by Plantation Programme undertaken every year on BBMB spare land, maintaining gardens, terraces, fringe areas of the reservoirs, project colonies etc. by developing its own horticulture-wings at project stations.

Example 2
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF THE SARDAR SAROVAR PROJECT The Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP), the largest and most expensive river valley project ever initiated in India, is often described by its proponents as Gujarat's lifeline. However, it's critics feel that it may be one of India's largest planned ecological disasters. In this book, environmental aspects of the SSP are discussed here in terms accessible to the lay reader: the need for an Environmental Impact Assessment of the project and the lack thereof, the way in which conditional environmental clearance was granted to the SSP and how that clearance has effectively lapsed; the possible environmental impacts of the SSP; and whether the SSP can be justified at all. The environmental impacts are described such that basic ideas about environmental impacts of dams and irrigation projects are clearly spelt out, therefore setting up a framework within which projects other than SSP can also be examined. Although this is an old study, its findings and analysis remain essentially valid. THE LACK OF AN ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT
Summary: The diverse range of environmental impacts of major river projects requires a comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) before any project can be considered for clearance. This fact has been recognised in India at least since 1975, when the Central Water Commission issued its guidelines for studies on river valley projects. The SSP, like all other such projects in India, was not subjected to such an EIA prior to clearance : the study passed off as an EIA in the early 1980s was only a preliminary statement of impacts. Even now, over a decade after work on the project site started, and seven years after receiving conditional environmental clearance, a comprehensive EIA of the SSP is lacking.

Major river valley projects are known to have large-scale impacts on the physical and biological environment (Hildyard and Goldsmith 1984). Direct impacts are felt in four broad regions:

upstream of the dam (submergence and catchment areas); downstream of the dam (riverine and estuarine ecosystems); command area (canal impact region); areas away from the above three regions where project-related activities are carried out (e.g. resettlement areas).

It is imperative that any proposed river valley project go through three steps regarding these environmental impacts: 1. A complete environmental impact analysis should be conducted before the project is considered for clearance, and the results of the analysis be used for judging the viability and desirability of the project. 2. If the project is considered viable and desirable on social, economic, environmental, and technical grounds, it is necessary to take preventive and ameliorative measures related to the negative environmental impacts. This requires complete workplans and their implementation. 3. Finally, once the project is built, it is important to constantly monitor the environmental impacts, and the measures taken to address them. Upstream of dam Loss of forests and terrestrial biological diversity Summary: The forests of the SSP submergence zone, while considerably degraded, still contain a large diversity of flora and fauna that is capable of supporting over 70,000 people. Though compensatory afforestation and wildlife conservation measures are being undertaken or planned, there is no feasible way of completely recovering the loss of these forests, or of saving much of the biological diversity that they contain. This is heightened by the fact that compensatory afforestation in the case of SSP is being done in Kutch, an ecological zone completely different from the Narmada Valley. There will therefore be an inevitable loss. Catchment Area Summary: SSP's catchment is under heavy pressure, and there is a distinct possibility of premature siltation of the reservoir, as has happened in many other Indian projects. Catchment Area Treatment has been initiated, but appears to be

far behind schedule in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. The problem of lands identified for treatment is as yet unresolved. Non-completion of upstream projects like Narmada Sagar, Omkareshwar and Maheshwar, would increase the catchment area of SSP, with a concomitantly higher silt inflow. Waterlogging Around Reservoir Summary: The SSP reservoir could cause waterlogging, especially in the plains area of Madhya Pradesh, which will be sandwiched between the reservoir and the Narmada Sugar canals. Studies on this seem to be absent. The SSP reservoir could cause waterlogging in surrounding areas. This is a distinct possibility in the plains of Nimar (Madhya Pradesh), especially because the area has predominantly black soils, which are extremely prone to waterlogging due to their high water retention ability. Breeding of Vectors Summary: The presence of the reservoir, as also of residual water pools and waterlogged lands in surrounding areas, could increase the incidence of diseases like malaria. Action plans to combat this still rely heavily on the use of pesticides, which are not only becoming less effective, but are becoming a serious health problem themselves. Other Aspects Reservoirs have various other associated environmental impacts, including the spread of weeds on and around the water body, the possibility of inducing seismicity, and subsidence of areas adjacent to the reservoir (the rim). We are not making any comments on these, as basic information on them is not available to us. Downstream of Dam Riverine Ecosystem Summary: The SSP will result in the destruction of hilsa and giant freshwater prawn fisheries downstream of the dam, in addition to having negative impacts on other aquatic life, including the mahseer. Additional problem include the impact of flash floods. These problem could be compounded by the increasing concentration of pollution, because the dam will reduce river flow and encourage the growth of urban/industrial centres and of intensive fanning.

Estuary Summary: For the same reasons as given above (water and silt flow reduction, pollution, flash floods), the Narmada estuary is likely to be adversely affected by the SSP. Saltwater ingress at the mouth of the river could be the most serious impact, with consequent declines in fisheries. Salinisation and increased pollution of underground water used for drinking and irrigation could take place around the estuary. Coastal geomorphology is likely to change, and bank erosion could occur. Waterlogging and Salinisation Summary: An analysis of available information suggests that about 55% of the SSP command area may be affected by waterlogging and salinisation due to surface irrigation, an environmental problem of staggering magnitude. Studies are not complete and hence no detailed action plan exists. Current proposals are based on a complex technological system which has not been tried out elsewhere on even a much smaller scale, and one which could easily be defeated by social and managerial difficulties. Loss of Biological Diversity Summary: The spread of irrigation into the SSP command is likely to have a serious deleterious effect on some species. Parts of the SSP command have natural habitats of extreme significance, including the Rann of Kutch with its unique flora and fauna. The large-scale disturbances due to canal construction, habitat changes caused by canal irrigation, and the agricultural expansion which will follow are likely to have severe negative consequences, specially on sensitive species such as the highly endangered Wild Ass.