River(Impounds): Mahanadi River
Location: Sambalpur, Odisha
Opening: 1957
Height: 60.96 m
Length: 4.8 km
Total Capacity: 4,779,965 acre·ft
HISTORY:
Before the devastating floods of 1936, Sir M. Visveswararya proposed a detailed investigation for storage reservoirs in the Mahanadi basin to tackle the problem of floods in the Mahanadi delta. In 1945, under the chairmanship of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, the Member of Labour, it was decided to invest in the potential benefits of controlling the Mahanadi for multi-purpose use. The Central Waterways, Irrigation and Navigation Commission took up the work.On 15 Mar 1946, Sir Hawthrone Lewis, the Governor of Odisha, laid the foundation stone of the Hirakud Dam. A project report was submitted to the government in June 1947. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru laid the first batch of concrete on 12 April 1948. The dam was completed in 1953 and was formally inaugurated by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on 13 January 1957. The total cost of the project was Rs.1000.2 millions in 1957. Power generation along with agricultural irrigation started in 1956, achieving full potential in 1966.