Bansagar Dam


Bansagar or Ban Sagar Dam is a multipurpose river Valley Project on Sone River situated in the Ganges Basin in Madhya Pradesh, India with both irrigation and 435 MW of hydroelectric power generation.
The Bansagar Dam across the Sone River was constructed near the Deolond village in the Shahdol district. It is surrounded by Satna, Katni, and Rewa districts. The project was called "Bansagar" after Bana Bhatt, the renowned Sanskrit scholar of the 7th century, who is believed to have hailed from this region in India. Bansagar Dam is located at Latitude 24-11-30 N and Longitude 81-17-15 E.
The project was initially called the "Dimba Project" in 1956 by the Central Water Commission, New Delhi to be constructed on the Sone River at the confluence of the Sone and Banas Rivers near Shikarganj town 30 km down river from the present site. Later it was shifted to the present site at Deolond. There was an agreement in 1973 between the State Governments of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar for the construction of the dam, in which the states shared the expenditure in the ratio of 2:1:1. The 4 million-acre-feet of water is also shared by the states in the same ratio. The construction work was started in 1978 at original approved cost of Rs. 91.31 crores. The final estimated cost in 1998 was Rs. 1054.96 crores.

Bansagar Dam and reservoir data

Irrigation

The water sharing from Bansagar Dam is as under:
Bansagar will irrigate an area of 2,490 km² in Madhya Pradesh, 1,500 km²; in Uttar Pradesh and 940 km² in Bihar.

Power generation

It also provides power generation of 425 MW in Madhya Pradesh.

Bansagar Canal Project

The Bansagar Canal Project started in 1978 was handed over to the nation by PM Narendra Modi on 15 July 2018. Following Canal System, which will utilize water from the Bansagar Reservoir, are in progress as under:
Canal SystemLength Annual irrigation
Common Water Carrier36.57No direct irrigation
Right Bank Canal30.805059
Bhitari Canal11.202730
Sihawal Canal75.3027143
Keoti canal90.0045528
Purwa Canal128.9074084
Gurh Mauganj Canal65.0024654
Teonthar Lift Canal40.9614161

Submergence of Bansagar

The land submerged by Bansagar dam at Full Reservoir Level is 587.54 km², out of which 40.73 km² is forest land, 175.90 km² revenue land 1.31 km² public land and 369.59 km² private land.
336 villages were submerged by the Bansagar Reservoir: 79 villages are fully submerged and 257 are partially submerged.

Fully submerged villages

The 79 fully submerged villages in Bansagar have been displaced and lost their geographical existence from the map. Some of the historically important villages submerged fully were Ramnagar, Deorajnagar, Baraundha, Markandeya-ghat, Darbar etc. The districts of these submerged and lost villages are as under:

Satna district (50 villages)

Amjhori Dakshin,
Baikona No.-2,
Bela,
Bamhauri,
Barauli,
Baikona No.-1,
Bara,
Barsajaha,
Bela Tiwari,
Banneh,
Chhirahai,
Deoraj nagar,
Dhol baja,
Dala,
Daga Kothar,
Dighiya Khurd,
Garehara,
Gurha,
Hinauta Khurd,
Hinauta Khothar,
Itma,
Itma,
Jarmani,
Jirauha,
Kusmaha,
Khajura,
Khajuri,
Kauhara,
Kareha bela,
Kothar,
Karahiya,
Kalla Khurd,
Kalla Kala,
Ladwad No.-1,
Ladwad No.-2,
Mala Dabar,
Mirgauti,
Mauhari,
Patha,
Patehari,
Poriya,
Parariya,
Pipari Dakshin,
Rimar,
Semariha,
Semra,
Singhpur,
Semariya,
Tilokawa
kotar
Naudhiya,
Tikari,
khajura

Shahdol district (22 villages)

Bodra,
Barundha,
Dhanedi Purva,
Dhaneda,
Dhanedi Pashchim,
Dhanedi Vikram,
Ghusira,
Jamun Darhi,
Jhirkona,
Kusiara,
Karahiya,
Karri,
Karaundiya Pashchim,
Karaundiya Purva,
Karaundiya Kothar,
Kanbau,
Kachhara Tola,
Marha,
Magaraha,
Palwahi,
Pahariya,
Sonvarsha,
Bartona,
Riha,
Sapta, Jamuni, Odari, Pathrehi, Sarsi, Khadeh

Katni district (6 villages)

Amakola,
Doli,
Itahara,
Kudri,
Naubasta,
Podi

Umaria district (3 villages)

Darbar,
Sahijana,
Hinauti,
Bholgarh,
Chap,
Padkhudi
following Motilal Vora leading to their motocade succeeding an inspection of Bansagar Dam in Madhya Pradesh in 1985

Dedicated to nation

The foundation stone of the Bansagar project was laid by the late Prime Minister Morarji Desai on 14 May 1978. The project was inspected and allocated sufficient funds in every five-year plan by the endless attempts of Pandit Ram Kishore Shukla former finance minister of Madhya Pradesh. The Bansagar Dam was dedicated to the nation on 25 September 2006 by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former Prime Minister of India.

Footnotes