Gandhi Sagar Dam
| Gandhi Sagar Dam | |
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Upstream view of the Gandhi Sagar Dam in 2009
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 Location of the dam within the state of Madhya Pradesh
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| Official name | Bhadra |
| Location | Mandsaur District, Madhya Pradesh |
| Coordinates | 24°42′24″N 75°33′12″E / 24.70667°N 75.55333°ECoordinates: 24°42′24″N 75°33′12″E / 24.70667°N 75.55333°E |
| Opening date | 1960 (Stage I) 1970 (Stage II) |
| Construction cost | Rs. 2.32 billion |
| Operator(s) | Water Resources Department, Madhya Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh Power Corporation |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Impounds | Chambal River, a tributary of Yamuna River |
| Height | 62.17 metres (204.0 ft) |
| Length | 514 metres (1,686 ft) |
| Reservoir | |
| Creates | Multipurpose |
| Total capacity | 7,322,000,000 m3 (5,936,000 acre·ft) |
| Catchment area | 22,584 km2 (8,720 sq mi) |
| Surface area | 723 km2 (279 sq mi) |
| Power station | |
| Hydraulic head | 44 metres (144 ft) |
| Gandhisagar Dam | |
The Gandhi Sagar Dam is one of the four major dams built on India's Chambal River. The dam is located in the Mandsaur district of the state of Madhya Pradesh. It is a masonry gravity dam, standing 62.17 metres (204.0 ft) high, with a gross storage capacity of 7.322 billion cubic metres from a catchment area of 22,584 km2 (8,720 sq mi). The dam's foundation stone was laid by Prime Minister of India Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru on 7 March 1954, and construction of the main dam was completed in 1960. Additional dam structures were completed downstream in the 1970s.
The dam sports a 115-MW hydroelectric power station at its toe, with five 23-MW generating units each providing a total energy generation of about 564 GWh. The water released after power generation is utilised for the irrigation of 427,000 hectares (1,060,000 acres) by the Kota Barrage, which is located 104 kilometres (65 mi) downstream of the dam, near the city of Kota in the state of Rajasthan.
The dam's reservoir area is the second-largest in India (after the Hirakud Reservoir), and attracts a large number of migratory and non-migratory birds throughout the year. The International Bird Life Agency (IBA) has qualified the reservoir under "A4iii" criteria, as the congregation of waterbirds is reported to exceed 20,000 at some points.
The Chambal River (known in ancient times as the Chamranyavati River) raises in the Vindhya Range at an elevation of 853 metres (2,799 ft), 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) west-southwest of the town of Mhow, near Indore. It flows north-northeast through Madhya Pradesh, runs for a time through Rajasthan, then forms the boundary between Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh before turning southeast to join the Yamuna River in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Its total length from its source to its confluence with the Yamuna River is 900 kilometres (560 mi).
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Wikipedia