Nizam Sagar Dam is an Indian dam named after the Nizam of Hyderabad. It is a

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contr ...

constructed across the

Manjira River The Manjara, also spelled Manjara or Manjeera, is a tributary of the river Godavari. It passes through the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Telangana. It originates in the Balaghat range of hills near Ahmednagar district at an altitude of ...

, a tributary of the

Godavari River The Godavari (IAST: ''Godāvarī'' �od̪aːʋəɾiː is India's second longest river after the Ganga river and drains into the third largest basin in India, covering about 10% of India's total geographical area. Its source is in Trimbakeshwa ...

, between Achampet and BanjePally villages of the

Kamareddy district Kamareddy district is a district located in the northern region of the Indian state of Telangana. The district shares boundaries with Medak, Nizamabad, Sangareddy, Siddipet and Rajanna Sircilla districts and with the state boundary of Maharash ...

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the eleventh-largest state and the twelfth-most populated state in India with a geographical area of and 35 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. It is located at about north-west of

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern Indi ...

. Nizam Sagar is the oldest dam in the state of

History

Nizamsagar dam was constructed in 1923 by

Mir Osman Ali Khan Mir Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII (5 or 6 April 1886 — 24 February 1967), was the last Nizam (ruler) of the Princely State of Hyderabad, the largest princely state in British India. He ascended the throne on 29 August 1911, at the age o ...

- the 7th

Nizam The Nizams were the rulers of Hyderabad from the 18th through the 20th century. Nizam of Hyderabad (Niẓām ul-Mulk, also known as Asaf Jah) was the title of the monarch of the Hyderabad State ( divided between the state of Telangana, Mar ...

of the erstwhile

Hyderabad State Hyderabad State () was a princely state located in the south-central Deccan region of India with its capital at the city of Hyderabad. It is now divided into the present-day state of Telangana, the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka, and ...

. It was made by emptying over 40 villages length:.

The dam

This masonry dam sprawling across the river for with a wide motorable road over it. There are excellent boarding and lodging facilities nearby, for tourists. Before Nizam Sagar was built, the Manjira River was not properly harnessed and little water was being used by diverting water at Ghanpur Anicut for Irrigating about and an open Channel called Mahaboob Nagar (Right Canal) in Medak District. The Ghanpur Anicut was the first scheme constructed across Manjira river in 1904 at a cost of Rs.18.00 Lakhs. Some years later, Nawab Ali Nawaj Jung Bahadur as Superintending Engineer added Fatch Nahar (Left canal) to increase the utility of the river later. The ayacut of was being irrigated under this Ghanpur Anicut that subsequently increased to as per actuals. Nizam sagar Project is the second irrigation scheme on Manjira river and the largest in the then Hyderabad state taken up during the year 1923 and completed by the year 1931. This Project was originally contemplated for utilization of 58.00 TMC of water to irrigate acres in Banswada, Bodhan, Nizamabad and Armoor Taluks of Nizamabad District. After reorganization of States in 1956, the Manjira basin was distributed among the three states viz., Maharashtra, Karnataka and Telangana. Different irrigation schemes have come up in above three states. Some of them to mention are: Manjira Barrage and Singur Project in Telangana to meet the drinking water needs of twin cities of Hyderabad and

Secunderabad Secunderabad, also spelled as Sikandarabad (, ), is a twin city of Hyderabad and one of the six zones of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) in the Indian state of Telangana. It is the headquarters of the South Central Railway ...

in Telangana. Karanja Project, Choukinala Project in Karnataka, Lower Tiruna Project, Manjira Project in Maharashtra State. Therefore, the inflows into Nizamsagar Project and as well as the low flows at Ghanpur Anicut during lean periods have dwindled considerably. Added to this the silting of reservoir has been at greater pace than designed for. From the investigation conducted by the A,.P.E.R.L. (Andhra Pradesh Engineering and Research Laboratories) Hyderabad in 1973, it was shown that the capacity of 29.7 TMC at original FRL of RL + has been reduced to 11.8 TMC. In the remodeling proposals F.R.L. has been raised from + to + and the capacity at this new FRL of + is 17.80 TMC. Apart from the above changes, out of the total localized ayacut of , have come under submergence of Sreeramsagar Project, have come in the command of Lakshmi canal and Kakatiya Canal of Sreeramsagar Project, and ayacut has not been getting water since inception of Nizamsagar Project. Thus, the settled ayacut of has come down to . The local people believe that everyone should visit this place at least once in whole life to make it complete. In view of the above enumerated facts, the inflows into Nizamsagar Project not only reduced but also delayed resulting in not only in the delayed commencement of agricultural operations in the ayacut but also some times loss of crop due to insufficient water supply. The problem has become more acute during the years 1972–73, 1993–94 and 1994–95.Babli dam

Salient features

Location: Achampet (Vill), Nizamsagar (Mandal) Kamareddy Dist. (Telangana) Longitude: 76° –56’ East Latitude: 18° – 10’ North River/Basin: Manjira / Godavari 21,694 km (8376 Sq.Miles.) i) Maharashtra: ii)Karnataka: ii)Andhra Pradesh: Water spreads: a) At MWL: 146.36 km (56.51 Sq.Miles) b) At FRL: 129.50 km (50.00 Sq.Miles) RESERVOIR DATA OLD NEW A) F.R.L. : +1400.50 +1405.00 B) M.W.L. : +1405.00 +1405.00 C)MDDL : +1376.00 D)Sill of regulator : +1364.00 E) TBL : +1412.00 1) ORIGINAL DESIGNED M.F.D. 1) Computed M.F.D. from C.A.: 5,25,000 C/s. 2) Proposed disposal: 4,73,577 C/s. Area Irrigated: i) Cultivatable command area: 2.75 Lakhs Acres. ii) Area localized: 2.31 Lakhs Acres. CAPACITY OF THE RESERVOIR. A) Gross: 29,716 Mcft. B) Live: 25,600 Mcft. C) Present capacity at +1405’: 17,803 Mcft. D) Present capacity @MDDL +1376’: 786 Mcft. Height of Dam above River Bed: 115.50 ft. Top width of dam: 14’-0" i) Gravity: 10,100 ft. ii)Composite: 5,200 ft Scouring sluice: 9 V. 8’x12’ Regulator sluices: 11 V.8’x10.5’ Main Canal: Off tae at R/F. Saddla Power House

Interstate Dispute

The water use entitlement of this project is 58 thousand million cubic feet (tmc) at 75% dependability (i.e. sufficient water is available in 3 out of 4 years) under

Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal The Government of India (GoI) constituted a common tribunal on 10 April 1969 to solve the river water utilization disputes about the river basin states of Godavari and Krishna rivers under the provisions of Interstate River Water Disputes Act � ...

(GWDT). However the water dependability has reduced to 33% (i.e. sufficient water is available only once in 3 years) in last decade due to more water utilization by Maharashtra and Karnataka by developing excessive water use potential beyond their water use entitlements given by GWDT. Karnataka has constructed four barrages across the Manjira river and three more are under construction. Similarly, Maharashtra state constructed at least 30 barrages on main tributaries of Manjira river downstream of major dams for recharging ground water, drinking water and irrigation purposes. This very old major irrigation project has become unproductive for want of water inflows. Also the water quality / salinity &

alkalinity Alkalinity (from ar, القلوي, al-qaly, lit=ashes of the saltwort) is the capacity of water to resist acidification. It should not be confused with basicity, which is an absolute measurement on the pH scale. Alkalinity is the strength ...

of inflows into this reservoir is becoming unsafe for irrigation use and human & cattle consumption. The ground water is also turning into high

salinity Salinity () is the saltiness or amount of salt (chemistry), salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water (see also soil salinity). It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg (grams of salt per liter/kilogram of water; the latter is dimensio ...

& alkalinity water. Recently, the

water scarcity Water scarcity (closely related to water stress or water crisis) is the lack of fresh water resources to meet the standard water demand. There are two types of water scarcity: physical or economic water scarcity. Physical water scarcity is whe ...

problem of Pochampadu irrigation system is some extent resolved by supreme court but acute water scarcity faced by Nizam sagar irrigation project is not yet addressed. Supreme court verdict (section 83 ii b) on Babli Project dispute stipulated that the gates of Babhali barrage remain lifted during the monsoon season, i.e., 1 July to 28 October and there is no obstruction to the natural flow of Godavari river during monsoon season below the three dams (Paithan, Siddheshwar & Nizamsagar dams) mentioned in Clause II (i) of the agreement dated 06.10.1975 towards Pochampad dam. Thus Pochampadu reservoir is accorded first priority over any other reservoir (major, medium, minor, barrage, etc.) to receive the water generated from the Godavari basin area located below these three dams. As stipulated by Supreme court, central government has set up monitoring committee to implement / supervise the water sharing as per agreement dated 06.10.1975 and supreme court verdict. Telangana government shall take the dispute to supreme court to resolve the water scarcity problem of Nizam sagar irrigation project at the earliest as Maharashtra and Karnataka states are using in excess of permitted water by building new projects and the water availability is becoming more and more grim in the downstream Telangana state.

External links

Wikimapia map

References