Nagarjuna Sagar Dam

Nagarjuna Sagar Dam is in the Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh in India. It is one of the largest dams built in Asia. It is located at a distance of 160 kms from Guntur and 150 km from Hyderabad. It is acclaimed to be the third largest man-made lake in the world.

This colossal dam supplies water for irrigation purposes to the districts like Nalgonda, Prakasam, Khammam and Guntur in Andhra Pradesh catchment area of 215000 sq km (83012 mi) . It has one of the largest networks of canal systems.

This mighty Nagarjuna dam was completed in 1969. It has a height of 124 meters, 1 km long, and 26 crest gates. Nagarjunasagar Dam can store up to 11, 472 million cubic meters in its reservoir.

The project started in February 1956. Full usage of the dam came from 1972 after fitting the crest gates. Two canals - the left and right canals were constructed to supply water from this reservoir. Total expenditure on the project (including maintenance till 2005) is around 1300 crore rupees.

The number of workers participating in the project varied from 45,000 to 70,000. Around 174 people died due to accidents during the construction. 52 villages were submersed in water and 24000 people were affected. The relocation of the people was completed by 1967. The inflows into the reservoir have been reduced due to the increased number of projects which have been built upstream.

Apart from these achievements, the dam also has been known for being one of the earliest irrigation and hydro-electric projects in India.