List of Major Multipurpose River Valley Projects of India
What is a multipurpose project?
By building big dams on the valleys of rivers, facilities for energy, irrigation, tourist places are obtained. That is why they are called multipurpose river valley projects. The primary objective of river valley planning is the full use of water and land within a river basin for human benefit. India's first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru called the multi-purpose river valley projects the 'temple of modern India'.
Benefits of River Valley Multipurpose Project:
Following are the major advantages of multi-purpose river valley projects in India:
- Flood prevention.
- Adequate waterways facilities by rivers.
- Construction of big dams and generation of electricity from them.
- To provide means of land irrigation with water irrigated by dams.
- Preventing land erosion by controlling water and doing various types of terrestrial works for land conservation.
- Deforestation and appropriate division and control of forest and agricultural land, management of fish production and its distribution.
- Organizing the care and growth of animals and birds.
- Prevention of other diseases like malaria etc. in the valley area.
- Organizing the consumption and distribution of agricultural produce.
- Traffic management.
- Re-organization of industries powered by electricity.
- Timely solutions to the growing problems faced by the industries.
- Control over the cleanliness of rivers and organize many other things related to human life.
- Management and overall control.
- Irrigation management.
- protect the environment.
- Land conservation and development of fisheries.
List of Major Multipurpose River Valley Projects of India:
| Project Name and River Related | Beneficiary state | Purpose |
| Bhakra Nangal Project (Sutlej River) | Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan | Generation of hydroelectric power, and providing irrigation facilities |
| Beas Project (Vyas River) | Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh | Generation of hydroelectric power, and providing irrigation facilities |
| Dulhasti Project (Chandra River) | Jammu and Kashmir | To produce hydroelectric power |
| Damodar Project (Damodar River) | Jharkhand, West Bengal | Project for power generation, irrigation and flood control |
| Hirakud Dam Project (Mahanadi) | Odisha | Generation of power and providing irrigation facilities |
| Chambal Project (Chambal River) | Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh | Irrigation, and thermal power generation |
| Tungabhadra Project (Tungabhadra River) | Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka | Generation of power and providing irrigation facilities |
| Mayurakshi Project (Mayurakshi River) | West Bengal | Generation of power and providing irrigation facilities |
| Nagarjuna Sagar Project (Krishna River) | Andra Pradesh | Generation of power and providing irrigation facilities |
| Kosi Project (Kosi River) | Bihar and Nepal | Project for power generation, irrigation and flood control |
| Gandak River Project (Gandak River) | Bihar and Nepal | Generation of power and providing irrigation facilities |
| Farakka Project (Ganga, Bhagirathi) | West Bengal | Providing facilities for power generation, irrigation and shipping |
| Kakdapara Project (Tapti River) | Gujarat | Providing irrigation facilities |
| Tawa Project (Tawa River) | Madhya Pradesh | Providing irrigation facilities |
| Nagpur Powerhouse Project (Kordi River) | Maharashtra | To produce thermal power |
| Indira Gandhi Canal Project (Sutlej River) | Rajasthan, Punjab, and Haryana | Produce irrigation, drinking water and thermal power power |
| Ukai Project (Tapti River) | Gujarat | Generation of power and providing irrigation facilities |
| Pochampad Project (Godavari River) | Karnataka | Providing irrigation facilities |
| Malaprabha Project (Malaprabha River) | Karnataka | Providing irrigation facilities |
| Mahanadi Delta Project (Mahanadi) | Odisha | Providing irrigation facilities |
| Rihand Project (Rihand River) | Uttar Pradesh | To produce hydroelectric power |
| Kunda Project (Kunda River) | Tamil Nadu | Providing Hydroelectric Power Irrigation Facility |
| Durga Viraj Project (Damodar River) | West Bengal, Jharkhand | Providing irrigation and navigational facilities between Kolkata and Raniganj |
| Idukki Project (Periyar River) | Kerala | To produce hydroelectric power |
| Tehri Dam Project (Bhagirathi River) | Uttarakhand | To produce hydroelectric power |
| Matatila Project (Betwa River) | Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh | Generation of hydroelectric power and providing irrigation facilities |
| Koyna Project (Koyna River) | Maharashtra | To produce hydroelectric power |
| Ramganga Project (Ramganga River) | Uttar Pradesh | Generation of electric power and providing irrigation facilities |
| Upper Krishna Project (Krishna River) | Karnataka | Providing irrigation facilities |
| Ghatprabha Project (Ghatprabha River) | Karnataka | Providing Hydroelectric Power Irrigation Facility |
| Bhima Project (Pawana River) | Maharashtra | Providing irrigation and hydroelectric power facilities |
| Bhadra Project (Bhadra River) | Karnataka | Providing irrigation and hydroelectric power facilities |
| Ranjit Sagar Dam Project (Ravi River) | Punjab | To produce hydroelectric power |
| Hidkal Project (Ghatprabha River) | Karnataka | Hydroelectric irrigation and hydroelectric power generation |
| Sutlej Project (Chenab River) | Jammu and Kashmir | Project for Hydroelectric Power Generation, Irrigation and Flood Control |
| Nathpa-Jhakri Project (Satluj River) | Himachal Pradesh | Providing hydroelectric power facility |
| Panama Project (Panama River) | Gujarat | Providing irrigation facilities |
| Kol Dam Project (Satluj River) | Himachal Pradesh | Irrigation and hydroelectric power generation |
| Kangaswati Project (Kangaswati) | West Bengal | Irrigation and hydroelectric power generation |
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☞ River Valley Projects of India GK Questions and Answers 🔗
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Multipurpose River Projects FAQs:
India's first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru called the multipurpose river valley project the 'temple of modern India'.
In 1962, Jawaharlal Nehru dedicated India's largest multi-purpose river valley project, the Bhakra Nangal Dam, to the nation. Apart from being the second largest dam in the country, it is also the second largest dam in Asia.
The Bhakra Nangal Dam is built on the Sutlej River. This dam is made up of two dams Bhakra and Nangal dams. Bhakra Dam is built 13 km away from Nangal Dam.
The Tulbul project is located on the Jhelum River, which flows through five rivers in Punjab and joins Pakistan. According to the original Indian plan, this barrage is 439 feet long and 40 feet wide. Its maximum capacity is 3,00000 acre feet. The Tulbul Project is a navigation "lock cum control structure" on the Wular Lake.
The 'Damodar River Valley' project came into existence on July 7, 1948 as the first multipurpose project of India. The project, like most projects in India, is modeled on the US 'Tennessee Valley Project', which is designed to maximize water use.