The Bhadra Dam or Lakkavalli Dam, which has created the Bhadra Reservoir, is located on the
Bhadra River a tributary of
Tungabhadra River
The Tungabhadra River () starts and flows through the state of Karnataka, India, for most of its course, then through Andhra Pradesh where it ultimately joins the Krishna River near Murvakonda.
The Tungabhadra derives its name from two strea ...
. Bhadra Dam is located in
Chikmagalur district
Chikmagalur, officially Chikkamagaluru () is an administrative district in the Malnad subregion of Karnataka, India. It was called Kadur (''Cuddoor'') district till 1947. Coffee was first cultivated in India in Chikmagalur. The hills of Chikm ...
on the border of
Bhadravathi and
Tarikere
Tarikere is a town, a taluk and is one of the two Subdivisional headquarter in the Chikmagalur district of Karnataka state, India. It is popularly known as gateway of Malnad because the Malnad area starts from here. The town's name is derived f ...
, in the western part of
Karnataka
Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...
in India. The benefits derived from the reservoir storage are irrigation with gross irrigation potential of ,
hydro power generation of 39.2 MW (three powerhouses, located on the right and left bank main canals
), drinking water supply and industrial use. The dam commissioned in 1965 is a composite earth cum masonry structure of height with length of at the crest level, which submerges a land area of .
Geography

The Bhadra River rises at
Samse
Samse is a village in the southern state of Karnataka, India. Village code= 1413900 Samse, Chikmagalur, Karnataka It is located in the Kalasa taluk of Chikkamagaluru district in Karnataka.
Demographics
As of 2001 India census, Samse had a popu ...
in the
Western Ghats Aroli hill range of
Kudremukh
Kudremukha is the name of a mountain range and an individual mountain peak located in Chikmagalur district, in Karnataka, India. It is also the name of a small hill station and iron ore-mining town situated near the mountain, about 20 kilomet ...
range,
Chikkamagaluru district
Chikmagalur, officially Chikkamagaluru () is an administrative district in the Malnad subregion of Karnataka, India. It was called Kadur (''Cuddoor'') district till 1947. Coffee was first cultivated in India in Chikmagalur. The hills of Chikmaga ...
and flows east across the
Deccan
The Deccan is a plateau extending over an area of and occupies the majority of the Indian peninsula. It stretches from the Satpura and Vindhya Ranges in the north to the northern fringes of Tamil Nadu in the south. It is bound by the mount ...
Plateau. It is joined by its tributaries, the Somavahini (drains from a crater and meets Bhadra River at Hebbe), Thadabehalla, and Odirayanahalla.The more than 90% of the catchment area lies in Chikkamagaluru District. The river flows through the city of
Bhadravathi and the
Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary
Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary is a Protected areas of India, protected area and tiger reserves of India, tiger reserve as part of the Project Tiger, situated in Chikkamagaluru district, south of Bhadravati, Karnataka, Bhadravathi city, 20 km from ...
. The Bhadra meets the
Tunga River
The Tunga River (alternatively spelled Thunga) is a river in Karnataka state, southern India. The river is born in the Western Ghats (Sahyadri mountains) on a hill known as ''Varaha Parvata'' at a place called '' Gangamoola''. From here, the riv ...
at
Koodli
Koodli, also spelled Kudli or Kudali, is a small historic village in Shimoga District, in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is at the ''sangam'' (confluence) of two rivers, the Tunga River and Bhadra River at nearly . They meet here to give ri ...
, a small town near
Shivamogga
Shimoga, officially Shivamogga, is a city and the district headquarters of Shimoga district in the Karnataka state of India. The city lies on the banks of the Tunga River. Being the gateway for the hilly region of the Western Ghats, the city ...
. The combined river continues east as the
Tungabhadra
The Tungabhadra River () starts and flows through the state of Karnataka, India, for most of its course, then through Andhra Pradesh where it ultimately joins the Krishna River near Murvakonda.
The Tungabhadra derives its name from two strea ...
, a major tributary of the
Krishna
Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...
, which empties into the
Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. Geographically it is positioned between the Indian subcontinent and the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese peninsula, located below the Bengal region.
Many South Asian and Southe ...
. The Bhadra Dam is built across the Bhadra River in Lakkavalli-
Tarikere Taluk. Lies from Singanamane village (Bhadravathi taluk), from
Lakkavalli
Lakkavalli is a small town / Hobli in Tarikere Taluk of Chikkamagaluru district, Karnataka state, southern India. Lakkavalli is the site of a dam across the Bhadra River; the dam is used for irrigation and power production and agriculture. Lakk ...
village (Tarikere taluk) and upstream of the confluence of the Bhadra River and Tungabhadra River.
[ ]Shimoga city
Shimoga, officially Shivamogga, is a city and the district headquarters of Shimoga district in the Karnataka state of India. The city lies on the banks of the Tunga River. Being the gateway for the hilly region of the Western Ghats, the city i ...
is located north of the dam. The Bhadra Dam drains a catchment area of out of which the forest area is , cultivable land is and fallow land is . A number of industries, urban and rural settlements dependent on assured water supply lie on the banks of the river and in the project command area; Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd, the Mysore Paper Mills and Vishweshvarayya Iron and Steel Industries are the major industrial activity noted in the command area of the project.
The Bhadra River basin receives an average annual rainfall
Rain is a form of precipitation where water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. ...
of 2320 mm with rainfall occurring during monsoon period (June to November). The rainfall is experienced both during the Southwest Monsoon
A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...
and North East monsoon; inflow contribution is 82% from SW monsoon (June to September) and 18% from north-eastern monsoon (October to December). The annual yield assessed from a catchment area of at the dam site is 84.63 BCF (billion cubic feet) in a 75% dependable year.[ Based on recordings taken over a period of 25 years, it has an estimated annual mean ]evapotranspiration
Evapotranspiration (ET) refers to the combined processes which move water from the Earth's surface (open water and ice surfaces, bare soil and vegetation) into the Atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere. It covers both water evaporation (movement of w ...
of 1,678 mm.
Project features
The Bhadra Dam project was the irrigation scheme to be undertaken by the National Water Management Project (NWMP), with the aim of increasing agricultural prosperity, particularly for rice production
Rice is a cereal grain and in its domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much less commonly, ...
. The dam was built to a height of (above the river bed level) between 1947 (start of construction) and 1965 (year of commissioning). It has a gross storage capacity of 2.025 km3,[ live storage of 63.00 BCF at full reservoir level and a dead storage of 8.50 BCF at RL (reservoir level) of .][ The storage created by the reservoir is according to the allocation of 61.70 BCF (1.747 km3 including direct evaporation of 0.14 km3) of water made under the ]Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal
The government of India constituted a common tribunal on 10 April 1969 to adjudicate the river water utilization disputes among the river basin states of Krishna and Godavari rivers under the provisions of Interstate River Water Disputes Act � ...
Award.[ The dam is built on a shattered rock based with a central masonry spillway. It has an earthen embankment on the left side and a rock hillock on the opposite side.] The Ogee type spillway in the middle section of the river has been provided with four numbers of vertical lift gates over a width of and designed for a discharge of /s. In addition, two number river sluices are also provided to pass a discharge of /s. The annual siltation load considered in the design is 10.78 million cubic feet per square kilometer of catchment area. The canal outlets provided in the dam, initially for Hydropower generation followed by irrigation, consists of the left Bank canal outlet to discharge /s and two right bank canal outlets to pass a discharge of /s.[ There are several islands in the reservoir area which have been developed for tourism.][
The dam has four spillway gates. The gate type is not exactly pronounced as either Ogee or Radial. This dam falls under the Parliamentary Constituency of Udupi Chikmagalur. The dam is classified as Earthen/ Gravity & Masonry.
The reservoir created by the dam submerged 27 villages.][
The Left Bank Canal is designed to carry a discharge of /s, starting from the tail race of the left bank powerhouse provides irrigation facilities over its total length of .][ The Right Bank canal, originating from the tail race channel of the right bank powerhouse provides irrigation facilities through its length of the main canal of designed to carry a discharge of /s and its branch canal system of . Gross command area from the project is , cultivable command is and irrigated command and cropped area is . The soils encountered in the Right Bank Canal irrigation command consisted of Black Cotton Soils 8.5% and ]Red soil
Red soil is a type of soil that typically develops in warm, temperate, and humid climates and comprises approximately 13% of Earth's soils. It contains thin organic and organic-mineral layers of highly leached soil resting on a red layer of alluv ...
93.5%, while on the Left Bank Canal command it comprises Black Cotton Soils 7.0% and Red soil 93%.[
The irrigation component of the project was planned to provide an annual cropping intensity of 200 percent to irrigate semi-dry crops in nearly 60 percent of the command area dominated by red loamy soils.][ Irrigated area spreads over ]Davanagere
Dāvanagere is a city in the centre of the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the seventh largest city in the state, and the administrative headquarters of eponymous Davangere district. Hitherto being a cotton hub and hence popularly kno ...
, Shivamogga
Shimoga, officially Shivamogga, is a city and the district headquarters of Shimoga district in the Karnataka state of India. The city lies on the banks of the Tunga River. Being the gateway for the hilly region of the Western Ghats, the city ...
, Chikmagalur
Chikmagalur (officially Chikkamagaluru, ), previously known as ''Kiriya-Muguli'' is a city and the headquarters of Chikmagalur district in the Indian state of Karnataka. Located on the foothills of the Mullayanagiri, Mullayanagiri peak of the We ...
and Bellary
Ballari (formerly Bellary) is a city in the Ballari district in state of Karnataka, India.
Ballari houses many steel plants such as JSW Vijayanagar, one of the largest in Asia. Ballari district is also known as the ‘Steel city of South Ind ...
districts comprising predominantly red loamy soils except in some portions of the right bank canal area which consist of Black Cotton soils. However, the actual cropping was predominately rice and also sugarcane and permanent gardens; 90% area on the left bank canal system and 60% area of the right bank canal system was dominated by rice. This practice resulted in heavy demand on water causing serious concerns on the irrigation system itself. Consequently, National Water Management Project (NWMP) was launched with the objective to "rehabilitate and provide more equitable, predictable and reliable irrigation service which could improve agricultural productivity and farm income". This project has resulted in substantial improvements in both the area brought under irrigation and consequent agricultural crop production.[
The water stored in the reservoir is diverted through the right and left bank power houses into the respective irrigation canal systems. The right bank powerhouse utilises the irrigation releases for power generation from two units of Kaplan-type turbine generators and one unit of 6MW capacity. The left bank powerhouse at the river bed utilizes the irrigation releases to generate power from two units of 12 MW capacity each and another power house on the left bank canal of one unit of 2 MW capacity. The three power stations together have a power generation capacity of 39.2 MW.][
]
Ecology
The Bhadra River flows through the Bhadra Tiger Reserve and Wildlife Sanctuary and the Bhadra Reservoir is on its northern border. The sanctuary has rich avifauna such as junglefowl
Junglefowl are the only four living species of bird from the genus ''Gallus'' in the bird order Galliformes, and occur in parts of South and Southeast Asia. One of the species in this genus, the red junglefowl, is of historical importance as the ...
, red spurfowl
The red spurfowl (''Galloperdix spadicea'') is a member of the pheasant family and is endemic to India. It is a bird of forests, and is quite secretive despite its size. It has a distinctive call and is often hard to see except for a few seconds ...
, painted bush-quail, emerald dove
The emerald dove or common emerald dove (''Chalcophaps indica''), also called Asian emerald dove and grey-capped emerald dove, is a widespread resident breeding Columbidae, pigeon native to the tropical and subtropical parts of the Indian Subcon ...
, southern green imperial pigeon
The green imperial pigeon (''Ducula aenea'') is a large forest pigeon. The large range extends from Nepal, southern India and Sri Lanka eastwards to southern China, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Taxonomy
In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Ja ...
, great black woodpecker
The black woodpecker (''Dryocopus martius'') is a large woodpecker that lives in mature forests across the northern Palearctic. It is the sole representative of its genus in that region. Its range is expanding. The black woodpecker is easily the ...
, Malabar parakeet
The blue-winged parakeet (''Psittacula columboides''), also known as the Malabar parakeet, is a species of parakeet endemic to the Western Ghats of southern India. Found in small flocks, they fly rapidly in forest clearings while making screec ...
and hill myna
''Gracula'' is a genus of mynas, tropical members of the starling family of birds found in southern Asia and introduced to Florida in the United States.
Taxonomy
The genus ''Gracula'' was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linna ...
. Reptiles
Reptiles, as commonly defined, are a group of tetrapods with an ectothermic metabolism and Amniotic egg, amniotic development. Living traditional reptiles comprise four Order (biology), orders: Testudines, Crocodilia, Squamata, and Rhynchocepha ...
reported in the river and the reservoir are the marsh crocodile
The mugger crocodile (''Crocodylus palustris'') is a medium-sized broad-snouted crocodile, also known as mugger and marsh crocodile. It is native to freshwater habitats from south-eastern Iran to the Indian subcontinent, where it inhabits marsh ...
s and monitor lizards
Monitor lizards are lizards in the genus ''Varanus,'' the only extant genus in the family Varanidae. They are native to Africa, Asia, and Oceania, and West African Nile monitor, one species is also found in south America as an invasive species. A ...
. Common river otter and smooth Indian otters, gaur
The gaur (''Bos gaurus''; ) is a large bovine native to the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, and has been listed as Vulnerable species, Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986. The global population was estimated at a maximum of 21,000 ...
s and leopards
The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant cat species in the genus ''Panthera''. It has a pale yellowish to dark golden fur with dark spots grouped in rosettes. Its body is slender and muscular reaching a length of with a ...
are commonly sighted in the reserve. The wildlife can be viewed by taking a boat ride in the reservoir when Tyavarekoppa Lion and Tiger Safari and the Sakkrebyle Elephant Camp can also be visited.
Marsh crocodiles are found all along the Bhadra River and more so after the river enters the sanctuary area and further flows through midst of the undisturbed moist deciduous forests till it joins the back waters of the reservoir of the Bhadra Dam.
References
{{Hydrology of Karnataka, state=expanded
Dams in Karnataka
Buildings and structures in Chikmagalur district
Tourist attractions in Chikmagalur district
Dams completed in 1965
1965 establishments in Mysore State
20th-century architecture in India