Bansagar or Ban Sagar Dam is a multipurpose river Valley Project on

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

situated in the Ganges Basin in

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, 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 by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

with both

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...

and ''435 MW'' of

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

power generation.Water Resources of Madhya Pradesh: Major Projects, Water Resources Department, Government of Madhya Pradesh, January 2006 The Bansagar Dam across the Sone River was constructed near the Deolond village in the

Shahdol district Shahdol District () is a district of Madhya Pradesh States and territories of India, state in east central India. Its old name was Matsya raj or Virat kingdom in the name of great king Maharaja Virata. With a total area of and a population of 10 ...

. It is surrounded by Maihar, Katni, and Rewa districts. The project was called "Bansagar" after Bana Bhatt, the renowned

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

scholar of the 7th century, who is believed to have hailed from this region in India. Bansagar Dam is located at

Latitude In geography, latitude is a geographic coordinate system, geographic coordinate that specifies the north-south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from −90° at t ...

24-11-30 N and

Longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east- west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek lett ...

81-17-15 E. The project was initially called the "Dimba Project" in 1956 by the

Central Water Commission Central Water Commission (CWC) is a technical organization of India in the field of water resources. It is presently functioning as an attached office of the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of Jal ...

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

to be constructed on the

at the confluence of the Sone and

Banas River The Banas is a river which lies entirely within the state of Rajasthan in western India. It is a tributary of the Chambal River, itself a tributary of the Yamuna, which in turn merges into the Ganga. The Banas is approximately 512 kilometres i ...

s near Shikarganj town 30 km down river from the present site. Later it was shifted to the present site at Deolond. There was an agreement in 1973 between the State Governments of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

and

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

for the construction of the dam, in which the states shared the expenditure in the ratio of 2:1:1. The 4 million-acre-feet of water is also shared by the states in the same ratio. The construction work was started in 1978 at original approved cost of Rs. 91.31 crores. The final estimated cost in 1998 was Rs. 1054.96 crores.

Dedicated to nation

The foundation stone of the Bansagar project was laid by the late Prime Minister

Morarji Desai Morarji Ranchhodji Desai (29 February 1896 – 10 April 1995) was an Indian politician and Indian independence activist, independence activist who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India between 1977 and 1979 leading th ...

on 14 May 1978.Hindustan Times, New Delhi: 26 September 2006 The project was inspected and allocated sufficient funds in every five-year plan by the endless attempts of Pandit Ram Kishore Shukla former finance minister of Madhya Pradesh. The Bansagar Dam was dedicated to the nation on 25 September 2006 by

Atal Bihari Vajpayee Atal Bihari Vajpayee (25 December 1924 – 16 August 2018) was an Indian poet, writer and statesman who served as the prime minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months from 1998 ...

, former

Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Union Council of Ministers, Council of Ministers, despite the president of ...

Footnotes

References

*Water Resources of Madhya Pradesh: Major Projects, Water Resources Department, Government of Madhya Pradesh, January 2006 *Hindustan Times, New Delhi: 26 September 2006

External links

Google Map of Ban sagar Dam

Website of Water Resources of Madhya Pradesh
{{Son basin Dams in Madhya Pradesh Hydroelectric power stations in Madhya Pradesh Beohari Shahdol district Dams on the Son River Dams completed in 2006 2006 establishments in Madhya Pradesh