Mahanadi
Mahanadi is a mapped river in the YearMaps hydrographic index. Hirakud Dam stands on this watercourse and is written up below. River courses organise settlement, agriculture and frontier-making more durably than any political boundary, and this reach is indexed against the dams, lakes and cities within its catchment.
- Feature Class
- River
- Dams Recorded
- 1
- Coordinates
- 21.02°, 83.82°
About Mahanadi
The Mahanadi River is a major river in East Central India. It drains an area of around 132,100 square kilometres (51,000 sq mi) and has a total length of 900 kilometres (560 mi). Mahanadi is also known for the Hirakud Dam which was the first major multipurpose river valley project after India's independence in 1947. The river flows through the states of Chhattisgarh and Odisha, before finally ending in the Bay of Bengal.
Encyclopedic summary adapted from Wikipedia: Mahanadi (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Mahanadi in Depth
Course
Like many other seasonal Indian rivers, the Mahanadi too is a combination of many mountain streams and thus its precise source is impossible to pinpoint. However its farthest headwaters lie 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) from Pharsiya village in Nagri Sihawa 442 metres (1,450 ft) above sea level about 11 km, in a dense patch of forest, south of Sihawa town in Dhamtari district of Chhattisgarh. The hills here are an extension of the Eastern Ghats and are a source of many other streams which then go on to join the Mahanadi.
For the first 100 kilometres (62 mi) of its course, the Mahanadi flows in a northerly direction and drains the Raipur district and touches eastern portions of Raipur city. It is a rather narrow river at this stage and the total width of its valley does not exceed 500–600 metres.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Mahanadi (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Mahanadi: Key Facts
| Length | 860 km |
|---|---|
| Average discharge | 2,100 m³/s |
| Drainage basin | 142,000 km² |
| Mouth | Bay of Bengal |
| Tributaries | Mand River, Ong River, Tel River |
Facts from Wikidata Q271044 (CC0).
Hirakud Dam
Hirakud Dam
Composite / Earth dam · Odisha, India
Hirakud Dam is a composite / earth dam on the Mahanadi in Odisha, India, standing 61 m (200 ft) high and completed in 1957. It carries an installed hydroelectric capacity of 347 MW. The structure impounds Hirakud Reservoir.
Hirakud Dam is a composite earthen dam built across the Mahanadi River, about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from Sambalpur, in the state of Odisha, in India. It is the longest earthen dam in the world. Behind the dam extends a 55 km (34 mi) long lake, the Hirakud Reservoir. It is one of the first major multipurpose river valley projects started after India's independence.
The dam was constructed as a multipurpose dam to control flooding in the Mahanadi delta, improve access to water for agriculture, and produce hydroelectricity for the region. Construction was started in 1946, with initial operations of electricity generation and pumping in 1956, before being fully completed in the 1960s. When the dam filled, it covered a number of villages displacing 22,000 people and covering 200 temples. The submerged sites are of some historic interest to researchers and divers.
Siltation has reduced the overall capacity of the reservoir 24% since its initial construction. Hirakud Reservoir was declared a Ramsar site on 12 October 2021.
Adapted from Wikipedia: Hirakud Dam (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Dam type
- Composite / Earth
- Structural height
- 61 m (200 ft)
- Installed capacity
- 347 MW
- Impounded river
- Mahanadi
- Reservoir
- Hirakud Reservoir
- Location
- Odisha, India
- Year completed
- 1957
- Height rank
- #69 of 115 indexed
- Output rank
- #68 of 102 indexed
- Coordinates
- 21.5239°, 83.8711°
Notable: One of the longest earthen dams in the world (~25.8 km overall length).
Among the 115 dams indexed in YearMaps, Hirakud Dam ranks #69 by structural height, behind Jinping-I Dam (305 m). By installed generating capacity it ranks #68, behind Three Gorges Dam (22,500 MW).
Nearest cities: Sambalpur (12 km), Raurkela (126 km), Bilaspur (188 km).
More about Hirakud Dam
Construction history
On 15 March 1946, Sir Hawthorne Lewis, the Governor of Odisha, laid the foundation stone of the Hirakud Dam. A project report was submitted to the government in June 1947. Jawaharlal Nehru laid the first batch of concrete on 12 April 1948.
In 1952, Mazumdar Committee was appointed by the government to oversee the soundness and technical feasibility of the project. The committee envisaged that the project would cost ₹ 92.80 crore and the construction of the main dam would be complete by June 1955. It also said that by 1954–55 a total of 1,347,000 acres (545,000 ha) of land would be irrigated and 48,000 kW of electric power would be generated. However, the dam was completed in 1953 and formally inaugurated by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on 13 January 1957.
Communities impacted by construction
The main purpose of the Hirakud Dam was to check the massive floods that were affecting a large part of coastal Odisha. But, the construction of the dam greatly affected the natives of the western part of Odisha. Nearly 150,000 people were affected by the Hirakud project and nearly 22,000 families were displaced.
In the original estimate, an amount of ₹120 million (equivalent to ₹15 billion or US$160 million in 2026) was provided for payment of compensation to the affected people. After revision, the amount was reduced to ₹95 million (equivalent to ₹12 billion or US$120 million in 2026) and the total compensation paid to the people was, in reality, only ₹33.2 million (equivalent to ₹4.1 billion or US$43 million in 2026).
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Hirakud Dam (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Hirakud Dam: Key Facts
| Crest length | 4,800 m |
|---|
Facts from Wikidata Q1940209 (CC0).
Major River Dossiers
Hand-written studies of the great river systems of history.
Connected Reaches
Nearby watercourses in the same drainage network.
Water Bodies in the Catchment
Settlements Along the Reach
Hydraulic Infrastructure Nearby
Surrounding Terrain
Mahanadi: Quick Answers
- Where is Mahanadi?
- Mahanadi is located in India, at 21.0179° N, 83.8220° E.
- Are there dams on the Mahanadi?
- Yes. YearMaps records one dam on the Mahanadi: Hirakud Dam.
- How tall is Hirakud Dam?
- Hirakud Dam is 61 metres (200 ft) high and was completed in 1957.