From the time of Independence, India has been engrossed in projected economic activities to attain self-sufficiency and improve the quality of living of its citizens. Among various actions followed for this intention, dealing with water resources has been one of the primary aims. The twin problems of flood and famine are nothing but two sides of the same crisis. As a result, they are being progressively handled in a structured fashion. Surface and ground water resources are looked at as complementary to each other. Their source is one and they attend to similar purposes. There broke through a common philosophy an technology out of these practical concerns and long experience. It is now being adopted virtually all over the world-especially in the water-thirsty areas. Multi-purpose river valley project is a common tag it has obtained over the years. The Damodar River Valley project was the first of its kind, adopted by free India.
In a multi-purpose river valley project quite a few targets are accomplished at a time. A gigantic single dam or series of small dams are constructed on a river and its tributaries. To begin with, these man-made lakes help in accumulating a massive volume of rain water. They also help in checking floods and safeguarding soils. The same water becomes very useful in irrigating farms, during the parched season, when water is in huge demand.
The catchment areas of these dams are now thoroughly afforested. This facilitates in preserving "wild land" and natural ecosystem. It is high time that humankind wakes up to rejuvenate the ecological balance in the hilly catchment areas of the revitalising rivers. Afforestation also helps in avoiding chocking of dams, lakes, river channels and irrigation canals. It helps in prolonging their life and economic feasibility.
Wild land so resolutely developed, helps in conserving flora and fauna, the most prized heritage of humanity. It is everybody`s obligatory duty to preserve and pass on unbroken this legacy to the future generations, to whom it justly belongs. The present generation is only the trustee of this tradition.
The stashed water in hilly and mountainous regions commonly furnishes high head. Stashed water, when made to drop from a high head, helps in yielding power even in dry seasons. Power gained from running or falling water is known as hydel power or hydro-electricity. It is one of the cleanest, freshest and pollution-free forms of energy. Evenly vital is the fact that hydro-electricity is deduced from water which is a renewable resource. Therefore, in every regard it gains over fossil-fuels- which are depletable and are the least free from pollution.
Multi-purpose river valley projects frequently furnish for inland water navigation, by central rivers and canals. It is the cheapest way of transport for bulky goods. Another economic advantage of these projects is the perfect conditions they render for growth of fisheries. Fish hatcheries and nurseries are build up to store water bodies with selected kinds of fish that are permitted to develop to their fullest. They are harvested only at fixed intervals, through checked fishing. Such well-developed fish farms can be the cheapest basis of protein for the populace, whose diet is otherwise awfully pitiable. Such well-managed and scientifically developed river valley projects become a focus of tourist attraction. It is for all these above mentioned reasons that the multi-purpose river valley projects are called the `new temples of modern India`.
Prior to Independence, water management was meant for irrigational purposes only. But today it encompasses creation of power, fisheries etc. Canal irrigation was practiced in the south from ancient times- particularly in the Kaveri delta. Tank irrigation was prevalent, nearly in every village in south. Similarly, productive irrigation was extensive throughout India. Animal power was exploited to pull up water from wells. During medieval times, numerous sovereigns had encouraged canal irrigation in northern India. In British times, the vast, waterless tracts of north-west Indian subcontinent, especially in the Indus basin, were brought under irrigation, where retired army employees were inspired to inhabit in new grounds. Land was highly flat and rich, and Indus and its tributaries had sufficient water to irrigate these uncultivated lands. Cotton was a central cash crop, sown under irrigation. Stretching over a period of time, world`s one of the best canal irrigation networks was developed. However, major portion of it fell into Pakistan.
The Damodar Valley Project redefines an instance towards administering the water resources on scientific lines. Damodar, though a small river, was called the `river of sorrow`, because of ravaging floods it used to induce. It streams from Chotanagpur in south Bihar to West Bengal, where it unites with the Hooghly. The valley has the biggest deposit of `black gold`, i.e. coal. Iron-ore deposits of India can also be found in its environs. The project comprises a chain of small dams on the tributaries of Damodar. However, there are only a few hydel-power stations. A navigable canal has also been constructed. The hydel power is fed into a common grid, in which big thermal power stations furnish majority of electricity for the maturing industrial complexes, extending over south-east Bihar and bordering parts of West Bengal. The project waters half million hectares of land in West Bengal and parts of south-east Bihar.
The Bhakra Nangal Project is a glorious instance of water management on scientific lines, on the largest extent. The Bhakra Dam has been erected at a calculated point, where two hills on both sides of the Satluj stand very near to each other. The dam, as a result, is not very wide. It is the highest gravity dam in the world. The height reaches 226 metres from the river bed. It is located in the seismic zone, and the hills that act as huge natural walls for stashing 7,80,000 hectare-metres of water, are made up of unstratified matter. Being very feeble and fragile, the hills are reinforced by instilling them with enormous concrete blocks at regular periods. The man-made lake, Gobind Sagar in Himachal Pradesh has been named after Guru Govind Singh, the 10th Guru of the Sikhs. It waters a massive area of 1.4 million hectares. The Bhakra Nangal power plant on the Satluj creates 1204 mw of electricity every year. The project provides the states of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab Haryana, Rajasthan and the National Capital Territory of Delhi.
The Indira Gandhi Canal Project in Rajasthan is an aspirational strategy to fetch fresh areas under irrigation, so that additional areas can also be reared. The waters of Beas and Ravi had to be channelised towards Satluj. The Pong Dam constructed on the Beas, accumulates 6,90,000 hectare-metres of water. It has helped to reroute the waters of Beas into Satluj, through a regularised manner, so that Indira Gandhi or Rajasthan Canal, the longest irrigational canal in the world, can water Ganganagar, Bikaner and Jaisalmer districts of northwest Rajasthan. The central canal is 468 kilometres in length. Waters of Satluj, Beas and Ravi are now being used by India to irrigate its water-thirsty lands in the northwestern parts of the country.
