Krishna Raja Sagara, also popularly known as KRS, is a

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

and the

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

that creates it. They are close to the settlement of Krishna Raja Sagara in the Indian

State State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

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 ...

. The

gravity dam A gravity dam is a dam constructed from concrete or stone masonry and designed to hold back water by using only the weight of the material and its resistance against the foundation. Gravity dams are designed so that each section of the dam is ...

made of ''surki'' mortar is below the confluence of river

Kaveri The Kaveri (also known as Cauvery) is a Rivers of India, major river flowing across Southern India. It is the third largest river in the region after Godavari River, Godavari and Krishna River, Krishna. The catchment area of the Kaveri basin i ...

with its tributaries Hemavati and

Lakshmana Tirtha The Lakshmana Tirtha (Lakshmantīrtha River) is a river of Karnataka, India. It rises in Kodagu district and flows eastward. It joins the Kaveri in the Krishna Raja Sagara lake. The river originates at the height of 1450 meters in the Brahmag ...

, in the district of

Mandya Mandya is a city in the state of Karnataka. It is the headquarter of Mandya district, Sugar factories contribute to the major economic output. It is also called Sugar City (Kannada: ''Sakkare Nagara'') because sugarcane is a major crop grown ...

Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV (4 June 1884 – 3 August 1940) was the twenty-fourth Maharaja of Mysore, reigning from 1902 until his death in 1940. Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV is popularly deemed a '' rajarshi'', or 'saintly king', a moniker with which Mah ...

Maharaj of Mysore constructed the dam during the famine despite the critical financial condition of State. It was after him that the dam was named. There is an ornamental garden,

Brindavan Gardens The Brindavan Gardens is a garden located 12 k.ms from the city of Mysore in the Mandya District of the Indian States and territories of India, State of Karnataka. It lies adjoining the Krishna Raja Sagara, Krishnarajasagara Dam which is bu ...

, attached to the dam.

Background

The region of

Mysore Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...

and especially Mandya had historically been dry and had witnessed mass migration to adjoining areas in the hot summers. A severe

drought A drought is a period of drier-than-normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, ...

in 1875–76 partly due to the British Government in India had wiped out one-fifth of the population of the

Kingdom of Mysore The Kingdom of Mysore was a geopolitical realm in southern India founded in around 1399 in the vicinity of the modern-day city of Mysore and prevailed until 1950. The territorial boundaries and the form of government transmuted substantially ...

. Crop failures were common due to a lack of water for irrigation. The Kaveri river was seen as a potential source of irrigation water for the farmers in and around

in the erstwhile

Survey and plan

The Chief Engineer of Mysore, Sir. M. Visvesvaraya, faced opposition from the finance ministry of the government of Mysore, who said the project would "serve no purpose" and that the electricity produced from it would not be of complete use due to lack of demand. He then approached T. Ananda Rao, the Diwan of Mysore and the Maharaja

for a reconsideration. Upon examining, the latter gave his consent issuing an order on 11 October 1911 to begin the project and a sum of 81

lakh A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac) is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; scientific notation: 105). In the Indian 2, 2, 3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000. F ...

was set aside for it.

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency or Madras Province, officially called the Presidency of Fort St. George until 1937, was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India and later the Dominion of India. At its greatest extent, the presidency i ...

then opposed the project and urged the imperial government not to approve it. Upon Visvesvaraya's persuasion, the government consented. However, the initial plan to build a dam 194-feet high to hold an estimated of water had to be dropped.

Construction

Construction began in November 1911, and 10,000 workers were employed. A mortar known as ''surki'' was used in place of cement, as the latter was not manufactured in India at the time and importing would prove costly for the state. By the time construction was completed in 1931, around 5,000 to 10,000 persons had lost their homes to the project. However, they were rehabilitated and provided with agricultural land in the adjacent areas by the government. The head priest Hindupur Panduranga Rao presided over the inauguration ceremony.

Operation

In place of

spillways A spillway is a structure used to provide the controlled release of water downstream from a dam or levee, typically into the riverbed of the dammed river itself. In the United Kingdom, they may be known as overflow channels. Spillways ensure tha ...

that prevent over-topping of dams, Visvesvaraya employed 48 automatic gates that open and close at the rise and fall of water in the reservoir, in six sets, with eight in each. Each gate consists of a sill, lintel, and side grooves and plates; balance weight; float; chains and pulleys; and inlet and outlet pipes. The gates are made of

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content of more than 2% and silicon content around 1–3%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloying elements determine the form in which its car ...

and were manufactured at the Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel Plant in Bhadravati. The eight sets of gates are connected by means of chains and pulleys to a dead weight, which in turn is connected to a float, making up the 'balance weight' together, working inside a masonry well, both on the rear of the dam. The deadweight and float are placed one behind the other so as to have four gates on each side of it. When all eight gates close the

sluice A sluice ( ) is a water channel containing a sluice gate, a type of lock to manage the water flow and water level. There are various types of sluice gates, including flap sluice gates and fan gates. Different depths are calculated when design s ...

, the balance weight moves to the top of its swing and floats to the bottom of the well. The well has an inlet pipe in diameter from the reservoir that allows water in when the reservoir reaches the maximum permissible level causing the float to rise, and the balance weight to fall pulling the gates up and allowing discharge of water. In the same mechanism, the well gets emptied through an exit pipe when the water level in the reservoir falls.

Dam

Foundation Stone to dam was laid on 11 November 1911. The dam was built across the river

in 1924. It is the main source of water for the districts of

. The water is used for irrigation in Mysore and

, and it is the main source of drinking water for all of Mysore, Mandya and almost the whole of

Bengaluru Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

city, the capital of

. The water released from this dam flows into the state of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

and is stored in Mettur dam in the Salem district.

Brindavan Gardens

The

is a show garden that has a botanical park, with fountains, as well as boat rides beneath the dam. Brindavan gardens were built by Maharaja

Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar (18 July 1919 – 23 September 1974), sometimes simply Jayachamaraja Wadiyar, was the twenty-fifth and last ruling Maharaja of Mysore, reigning from 1940 to 1950, who later served as the governor of Mysore until 1964 an ...

.It was designed by German botanist Gustav Hermann Krumbiegel. Diwan Sir Mirza Ismail of Mysore planned and built the gardens in connection with the construction of the dam.(citation needed) KRS Dam was the first to install automated Crest gates during 1920, which was initiated by Sir. Erwin who was British chief engineer. Display items include a musical fountain. Various biological research departments are housed here.

Flora and fauna

The landscape of the area represents a complexity of agricultural land, rural habitation, sparingly spread trees and patches of original vegetation at the close by Ranganathittu Wildlife Sanctuary, which attracts wide varieties of local and migrant birds. Nearly 220 species of birds have been recorded here in large numbers.

References

External links

Krishnarajasagara Reservoir Project
at Karnataka Water Resources Department
Mysore Nature, KRS for birders
{{Hydrology of Karnataka, state=expanded Kaveri River Dams in Karnataka Kingdom of Mysore Hydroelectric power stations in Karnataka Reservoirs in Karnataka Dams on the Kaveri River Buildings and structures in Mandya district Tourist attractions in Mandya district Geography of Mandya district Dams completed in 1938 1938 establishments in India 20th-century architecture in India