River(Impounds): Godavari River
Location: Aurangabad district in Maharashtra
Opening: 1976
Height: 41.30 m
Length: 9,998 m
Total Capacity: 2,909,000,000 m3
HISTORY:
The Jayakwadi project is one of the largest irrigation projects in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is a multipurpose project. The water is mainly used to irrigate agricultural land in the drought-prone Marathwada region of the state. It also provides water for drinking and industrial usage to nearby towns and villages and to the municipalities and industrial areas of Aurangabad and Jalna district. The surrounding area of the dam has a garden and a bird sanctuary.
A plan to build a dam on Godavari river in the drought-prone Marathwada region was first conceived during rule of state of Hyderabad. The plan was to build a dam in Beed district near village Jaikwadi (जायकवाडी) with storage capacity of 2,147 MCM (million cubic metres).The project came to know as Jayakwadi project after name of the village. However, after formation of new state of Maharashtra and comparative analysis on alternative places, it was decided to build a dam 100 km upstream at Paithan. The project was continued to name as Jayakwadi even after it was shifted to a new location. Building dam at higher level made it possible to have longer canals and thus providing irrigation facility to a larger region. The project proposal for this was completed by 1964.Although It was not natural Point Due to this Catchment area spread horizontally and Unnecessarily More people had shifted from their natives and well settled lives.
The foundation of the dam was laid by the then Prime minister of India Lal Bahadur Shastri on 18 October 1965. The dam was inaugurated on 24 February 1976 by the then Prime minister Indira Gandhi.The chief engineer of this project was Mr. A.A.A. Siddiqui.