Indrapuri Barrage (also known as the Sone Barrage) is across the

Son River Son River ( hi, सोन नदी, also spelt Sone River) is a perennial river located in central India. It originates near Amarkantak Hill in Gaurela-Pendra-Marwahi district of Chhattisgarh and finally merges with the Ganges River near Pa ...

Rohtas district Rohtas District is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar state, India. It came into existence when Shahabad District was bifurcated into Bhojpur & Rohtas in 1972. Administrative headquarter of the district is Sasaram. Rohtas district has th ...

in the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

The Barrage

The Sone Barrage at Indrapuri is long and is the fourth longest barrage in the world. It was constructed by

Hindustan Construction Company Hindustan Construction Company Limited (HCC) is an Indian Engineering, Procurement, Construction, and Project Management companies. It is headquartered in Mumbai. HCC was founded by Industrialist Seth Walchand Hirachand in 1926. HCC has exe ...

(HCC),the company which constructed the 2,253 m long

Farakka Barrage Farakka Barrage is a barrage across the Ganga river located in Murshidabad district in the Indian state of West Bengal, roughly from the border with Bangladesh near Shibganj. Farakka Barrage Township is located in Farakka (community develop ...

, the longest in the world. Construction of the barrage was taken up in the 1960s and it was commissioned in 1968.

The Canal System

In 1873-74, one of the oldest irrigation systems in the country was developed with an anicut across the Son at

Dehri Dehri also known as Dehri-on-Sone is a Nagar parishad and corresponding community development block in Rohtas district in the state of Bihar, India. Situated on the Son River, Dehri is a large industrial town and a railway hub. Etymology The n ...

. Water from the Son fed canal systems on both sides of the river and irrigated large areas. A barrage was constructed 8 km upstream of the anicut. Two link canals connected the new reservoir to the old irrigation system and also extended it. Sir John Houlton, the veteran British administrator, described (in 1949) the Son canal system as follows, "This is easily the largest canal system in Bihar; there are 209 miles of main canals, 149 of branch canals and 1,235 of distributaries… The canals are of enormous benefit to cultivation. They have converted a large area of infertile land into a richly productive area."Houlton, Sir John, Bihar, the Heart of India, pp. 47-48, Orient Longmans, 1949.

Future plans

There is a proposal for the construction of a dam across the Son, between Kadwan in Garhwa district of Jharkhand and Matiwan in Rohtas district of Bihar. As per the National River Linking Project of the National Water Development Agency, there is a proposal for linking the Ganges with the Son, through the 149.10 km Chunar-Sone Barrage Link Canal. The canal will start from the right side of the Ganges near

Chunar Chunar is a city located in Mirzapur district of Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is nearby Mirzapur city. The railway tracks passing through Chunar Junction railway station leads to major destinations of India, including Howrah, Delhi, T ...

tehsil of Mirzapur district in UP and would link to the Indrapuri barrage. There would be three lifts at three places on the route. The lifts would be of 38.8 m, 16.10 m and 4.4 m.

References

{{Patna Division topics Tourist attractions in Rohtas district Dams in Bihar Dams completed in 1968 Dams on the Son River 1968 establishments in Bihar Canal in bihar