The Hirakud Dam Project is the first major multipurpose river valley project in India,after India was liberated from the British rule in 1947. Constructed across the river Mahanadi at about 15 Kms. upstream of Sambalpur town in Orissa the main dam, the Hirakud is 6 Kms from NH(National Highway) 6 and 8 kms from the Hirakud railway station. It is 61 metres in height and 4801 metres in length with 21 kms of dykes. It is the longest earthen dam in the world with the biggest artificial lake in Asia.The initial concrete foundation for the project was laid by the first prime minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru on 12th April, 1948.The project was officially inaugurated by him on 13th January, 1957.

The entire project consists of three dams---- the Hirakud dam, the Tikarpara dam and the Naraj dam.The project provides 1,55,635 Hects and 1,08,385 Hects of irrigation to Rabi and Kharif crops respectively in the districts of Sambalpur, Bargarh, Bolangir, and Subarnpur in Orissa. The water released through power house irrigates a further 436000 Hects in the Mahanadi delta. The two powerhouses at Burla and Chiplima have a cumulative installed capacity of 307.5 MW. The main aim of the Hirakud dam project is to control the flow of the Mahanadi river , which, with a catchment area of 132000 square kms, has alarming floods from time to time. Hirakud dam intercepts 83400 square kilometres(32200 square miles) of Mahanadi catchments.The project provides flood protection to 9500 square Kms of delta area in the districts of Cuttack and Puri. The entire irrigated patch of land of the dam constitutes two canal systems. They are the Sason canal and the Bargarh canal.Each canal is of a different sort : the Sason canal is of the ridge type and the Bargarh canal is of the contour type. The Chief Engineer, two Superintending Engineers and seven Executive Engineers and their staff are concerned with the maintenance and repair of the dam with the funds alloted to the Chief Engineer by the State government from time to time. The difference between the ridge type canal and the contour type canal is that the ridge type canal does not have banks on either side unlike the contour type canal.

The project has immensely benefitted the people of India. A summary of the benefits would not be out of place here:

As mentioned above, flood control is one of the main features of this project. Orissa is a storehouse of natural resources. It is blessed with plenty of rainfall, warm climate and rich cultivable land. Along with these, it has extensive deposits of iron, coal, manganese, bauxite, chromite and limestone.The Hirakud project has made the exploitation of these resources possible.At present, the Hirakud project has facilitated power supply to an aluminium plant at Hirakud, paper mills at Brijrajnagar, cement works at Rajgangpur, iron and steel plant at Rourkella and several other industries in Cuttack, Puri, Sambalpur, Keojhar, Mayurbhanj, Bolangir and other districts. The dam regulates the flow of water by curtailing it during the monsoons and increasing it during the dry season.

Planting trees in the Mahanadi Valley has helped a lot in the conservation of forests. The reservoir facilitates pisciculture and water sports.