Nangarjuna Sagar Dam is the dam which is located on the river Krishna and it is the world’s largest dam. It was the largest dam when it was under construction. It is located in Nalgonda and Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh. It was taken a long time during construction as it was started in the year 1955 and it ended up in 1967. Apart from these things, this dam made a reservoir of water of 11472 million cubic mt. It was among those projects that were started in India for its development. It was the first infrastructure and irrigational project started in India which was also related to Green Revolution that was going on India. This dam was effective and it started providing irrigational facilities to various districts like Prakasam, Nalgonda, Khammam and also to Krishna. It was also providing its services to Guntur district and it was helpful for national grid as it was providing electric power.

This dam is having 26 gates and it is 1.6 kilometer long dam. The distance of this dam from the main city of Hyderabad is 150 km. and it is also having the borders of Nalginda and Gunturdistrict. It is constructed on Krishna River which is flowing to these regions. This dam is very effective is providing irrigation facilities to some of the villages like Khammam, Nalgonda, Guntur and Prakasam. The total land that the dam covers for irrigation is 10 lakh acres. This dam is also having canals through which it is possible for Andhra Pradesh to get benefits. These canals are Jawahar Canal and Bahadur Canal. Through this dam, the state gets good support in irrigation because of which it is also known as Rice Bowl of India.

History

British Engineers thought to conserve the excess water which was with Krishna River. They started planning of it in 1903 and they were supervised by the Nizams of Hyderabad. At that time, various those areas which were unidentified till that time were identified as the better reservoirs. These areas were Pulichintala, Siddheswaram and Hyderabad. Then, the work of construction, identification of site and designing dam were proposed under the guidelines and presence of King of Muktyala. The dam of Nagarjunasagar was the step towards igniting the development in India and also it was the start towards Green Revolution. The construction work was inaugurated in an official manner through Prime Minister of India, Pt. Jawahar lal Nehru on December10, 1955. The construction process was continued for the next 12 years. In the year 1967, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi released the reserved water on the right and left bank canals. Apart from this, the construction of hydropower plant was also taken place from1978 to 1985.

Due to the construction process which was going on, it submerged the Nagarjunakonda. It was a Buddhist settlement. This settlement was the capital of ikshvaku dynasty that was established during the first and second centuries. The rulers were the successors of Satavahanas who were from Eastern part of Deccan. There were in total 30 Buddhist monasteries that were devastated and also devastated the historical importance of this place. The monks were rescued from flooding and taken to the safe place. In all this calamities, some monks moved towards the Nagarjuna’s Hill and some came to the mainland.

Effect Of The Project

The effects of the projects benefited most to the farmers who were living to those areas. These districts were Prakasam, Guntur, Nalgonda and Krishna along with Khammam. The Jawahar Canal which is also known as Right Canal irrigates a land area of 45000 km square. The left canal which is known as Lal Bahadur Shastri Canal irrigates to a total area of 800 km square. It mostly facilitates to Khmmam district which is located in Telangana District. Apart from this, it also disturbed the economy of the state as there were 52 villages that were submerged into the water that flows through this dam. Nearly around 24000 people were affected. The relocation process that was started was completed finally in the year 2007. 

Power Generation

There is a power generation plant located in the dam which is having the capacity of 8 units with 815.6 MW. The plan of this hydroelectric project was first proposed on March 7, 1978. The last and the 8th unit were completed on December 24, 1985. Along with this, the left canal is having the power generating capacity of 2 units and 630 MW. The right canal is having 3 units of 30 MW each. Tail pond is also under constriction and it will come to use in few more time through which storage features that will also help in hydroelectricity projects.

Tapping Dead Storage Potential

There is a land area of two million acres and that needs irrigation from the right and left bankcanals. These canals are fixed at 490 ft above Sea Level. The unutilized water is stored underthe canal in a bed level. The capacity of that storage water is 180 TMC. This Nagarjunasagar reservoir also meets to Krishna Delta and fulfills the water required to a larger amount of 100 TMC through letting water in the streams of river. This Krishna Delta Canal irrigates a land area of 1.3 million acres. It is also possible to store this dead water so that it may some for some more purpose in future. It may be used for more other things that are important. There is a large amount of water which is stored and it is also possible to install a water poweredpump in the base of the dam to store them.

This Water Powered Pump is located at the toe of the dam and it is having a water level of 240 ft on each side of river. Through the technique of live reservoir which is also known as lake tapping, it is possible to connect this WPP units below 380 ft. this live lake method of tapping is successfully installed in Koyna Hydroelectric Projects so that additional units of hydroelectric units can be installed without doing Koyna reservoir empty. The total cost for utilizing 150 TMC will be Rs.15 billion. Additionally, if the storage is created under any new reservoir then it would not come less than Rs.50 billion. This water may be supplied to high level canals from its left and right banks. It is also possible without consuming electricity through WPP units and they will irrigate dry lands that are in districts like Warangal, Khammam, Nalgonda and Guntur.

Attractions

Anupu

There were various things that were submerged while the construction of dam was taking place. Through the submersion, reconstruction and reconstruction taken place on high profile. To protect the remains, this process was begun and it required original raw materials for this purpose. Anupu, a place from the dam which is just four kilometers was chosen where Buddhist University was established. The remaining of this university were found in excavations that taken place. It was the first time that reconstruction and relocation was started in such a manner that the outstanding structures may not get submerged. It happened first time in the country just to preserve the educational space which was submerged. This transplantation was started as per the lines of Abu Simbel of Egypt.

Nagarjunakonda

The archeological survey team determined that as there was the threat that the area will get submerged, they put their efforts and transplanted the nine monuments from that valley to Nagarjuna hill. They stood there in the same manner in which they were found in that valley. Many of those monuments were shifted to Nagarjunakinda which was the hill and now it had converted into the island. It is in the middle of that reservoir. There is a museum at Nagarjunakonda which is having Buddhadhatu. it is a relic that was evacuated from that valley.

In the same museum, there is a structure which is modeled as per the lines of Vihara. It also contains numbers of precious artistic things. These are of all kinds of cultural period from which that valley was passed. There were many things like stone slabs and carved limestone, inscriptions and sculptures were found which belong to third and fourth century. They are exhibit in a proper manner as they are placed in five galleries in proper methods.  The sculptures which are at Nagarjunkonda bring the mastery of Satavahanas and Ishvakus. There were various sculptures that provide a good episode of Buddha. There are various images of Buddha are also available. A person may got to that time when they were created after watching to those sculptures easily.

Ettipotala

There is a waterfall located near to the Nagarjunasagar dam. The name of this dam is Ettipotala and it is just 8 kilometers from the place. It is having a meaning in Telugu which is to Lift and Pour. It is one of the impressive picnic spots that are available at that place. It is also having a hill stream of Chnadravanka which is going down 22 meters and it meets to river Krishna further. This is the best place to enjoy for the tourists and all thanks to the waterfall. It provides a very beautiful landscape at the evening after sunset. Among other facilities, there is a restaurant which is government approved and it is having all kinds of hotel facilities so that a person may spend a night or other day too.

Tiger Sanctuary

There is a wildlife sanctuary available which is largest in Andhra Pradesh. The name of it is Tiger Sanctuary and it is the largest dam that is located between the Nagarjunasagar Dam and Srisailam. It is having an area of 3500 square kilometers. It is having wooded hills and good things to watch. These thick hills pass five districts of Guntur, Kurnool, Prakassam, Mahboobnagar and Nalgonda.

Photo Gallery