Tehri Dam | Highest Dam in India and Tallest in the World
Short Description of Tehri Dam
Tehri Dam Project - A 260.5-meter high Kafar-dam (mud and stone completion) was constructed under this Government of India multi-national project at the confluence of Bhagirathi and Bhilangana rivers. Which is the highest in Asia and the fourth highest dam in the world, due to the vastness of this project, it has been dubbed the "National Village". Important facts related to the project are as follows.
In 1972, the Planning Commission gave its approval to this joint project of the Center and the Government of Uttar Pradesh and the construction of its dam started by the Irrigation Department (Uttar Pradesh) from 1978.
Due to the slow progress of the work, in 1988 the Central Government took over the responsibility for its construction, and for this purpose, the 'Tehri Jal Nigam' (THDC) was established and handed over the responsibility of construction to the Corporation in 1989. In 1990, the corporation was also entrusted with the task of rebuilding the displaced. After the formation of the state, besides Uttar Pradesh and Delhi, Uttarakhand also became a part of it. The project has two phases, with a total power generation capacity of 2400 MW.
The first phase has 1000 MW Tehri Dam and Hydropower Project, while the second one has 1000 MW Tehri Pumped Storage Plant and 400 MW Koteshwar Dam and Hydroelectric Project.
It is believed that two underground plants of 1000 - 1000 MW are close to the 260.5 meter high of Tehri Dam. Whereas, 400 MW Koteshwar plant has been installed near the main dam by constructing a 97.5 meter high dam on concrete in a 22 km downstream.
Four diversion tunnels have been extracted from the main dam and reservoir of this project. Each of which is 11 meters in diameter and horseshoe-shaped, with a total length of 6.3 kilometers. Two of these 400 tunnels operate four units of 250-250 MW of Tehri Hydroelectric Project and four units of 250 - 250 MW of Tehri Pumped Storage Plant from the remaining two tunnels.
The reservoir (Swami Ramatirtha Sagar), spread over an area of 42 square kilometers, has a total water holding capacity of 354 crore cubic meters. In which 261 crore cubic meters of water are operational. For the generation of electricity, the water level of this reservoir has to be maintained at least 740 meters above sea level. The first phase of this project (1000 MW Tehri Hydroelectric Project) was dedicated to the National on 30 July 2006. Now the work on the second phase of 1400 MW is going on fast. By the end of December 2007, almost 8000 crores had been spent on this project.
Important facts related to Tehri Dam Project
Benefits from Tehri Dam Project
Displacement and Rehabilitation
The Tehri project affected the residence of about 100,000 people. 582 crore rupees were spent for their rehabilitation. In 1815, around 39 villages of Tehri town were completely affected and 86 villages were partially affected by the project. The city of Tehri (Swami Ramatirtha Sagar) was completely submerged in its reservoir. The people of the Tehri city (about 529 families) were rehabilitated in the newly established cities New Tehri and Dehradun and Rishikesh towns at the distance of 24 km south of the original city. Around 9239 families affected by the Tehri dam project were rehabilitated at places like Raiwala (Dehradun), Pashulok (Rishikesh, Dehradun), Pathri (Haridwar), Banjarawala and Bhaniawala, etc.,
Opposition to Tehri Project
The project has been opposed from the very beginning due to the erosion of the existence of Tehri city and its surrounding areas and consequent displacement of people and geological and environmental reasons. The first voice against the dam was raised by Kamlendra Mati Shah, the mother of the Tehri Garhwal state. After that, in 1978, an anti-dam committee was formed in Tehri under the chairmanship of Vidyasagar Nautiyal. The committee continued to protesting from Lucknow to Delhi.
Sunderlal Bahuguna, Virender Sakalani many others were associated with this committee. In 1969, Sakalani also filed a petition in the Supreme Court on behalf of the committee, in 1991, under the leadership of Bahuguna, the committee held a dharna and stopped the dam construction for 76 days.
Due to the geography of the region being new, there is a risk of frequent earthquakes. If there is a big earthquake on the Richter scale, then not only is there a danger of sinking and ruining this area but it will have an impact on the whole of North India. The Tehri Dam is located above the 'Mahar Tier Fast' epicenter of a dangerous earthquake located at a depth of 7.5 km.
Earthquakes can also occur due to the activation of the underground by the construction of the reservoir. The construction will also have a fatal effect on fish and many flora and fauna, that is why it was also opposed. Some experts had predicted that silt deposition in the reservoir would accelerate due to high erosion in the catchment area due to which the reservoir would be only 60 years old, in the same area and the structure would also have a bad effect. Stopped and by 2002, "Swami Ramatirtha's tapasthali" sank into the waters.
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