Write a short essay on Chambal project
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This is a joint venture of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh initiated in 1954 on the Chambal River (the main tributary of the Yamuna). The project aims at harnessing the Chambal River for irrigation, power generation and for prevention and control of soil erosion in the valley. The project has been executed in three successive stages.
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The first stage consists of construction of the 64 m high and 514 m long Gandhisagar dam about 8 km downstream of the Chaurasigarh fort in Bhanupura tehsil at the border of M.P. and Rajasthan. Constructed in 1960, the dam has created the Gandhisagar reservoir which spreads over an area of 688 sq km. It has a capacity to hold 692 crore cubic metres of water which provides irrigation to 4.44 lakh hectares. Five units of 23,000 K.W. capacity each have been set up at the dam site.
The second stage includes the construction of the 54 m high and 1,143 m long Rana Pratap masonry dam at Rawatbhata about 56 km downstream of the Gandhisagar dam. It has a gross storage capacity of 290 crore cubic metres spreading over an area of 198 sq km.
It provides irrigation to 1.2 lakh hectares of land. The Rana Pratap power station is located on the left bank just at the toe of the dam. Four generating units of 43,000 K.W. each are installed here.
The third stage consists of the construction of a 45 m high and 548 m long gravity dam, known as the Jawahar Sagar dam or Kota dam, about 29 km upstream of Kota city. It was completed in 1971- 72. The reservoir created by this dam has a potential of 68 million cubic metres. Three generating units of 33,000 K.W. each have been installed here.
Kota barrage was constructed in 1960, at a distance of less than 1 km from Kota. This is 36 m high and 600 m long earthen barrage. Irrigation canals taken from both sides of the barrage irrigate 4.4 lakh hectares in Rajasthan and M.P.
The areas benefited by this project include Kota, Bundi, Bharatpur, Jaipur, Sawai Madhopur, Tonk, Ajmer, Pali, Bhilwara, Sirohi and Udaipur districts of Rajasthan and Mandsaur, Indore, Ujjain,