Lakhwar-Vyasi Dam project on

Yamuna River The Yamuna (; ) is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in List of major rivers of India, India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of about on the southwestern slopes of B ...

, includes under-construction Lakhwar Dam and Power Station, Vyasi Dam, Hathiari Power Station and Katapathar Barrage, near the Lakhwar town in Kalsi block of

Dehradun district Dehradun district () is a district in Garhwal which is a part of Uttarakhand state in northern India. The district headquarters is Dehradun, which has also served as the interim capital of Uttarakhand since its founding in 2000. The district ha ...

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand (, ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. The state is bordered by Himachal Pradesh to the n ...

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 ...

, for the purpose of irrigation of 40,000 hectare land and total 927 MW

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. "Lakhwar Dam" is a

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 ...

near the Lohari village with 300MW power generation capacity. "Vyasi Dam" will be built 5 km downstream along with 120 MW "Hathiari Power Station" further 0.5 km downstream.1986
Confluence
Issues 8-16, Page 14. "Katapathar Barrage", with the maximum ponding water level at 514.5m elevation, will be built further 2.75 km downstream of the ''Hathiari Power Station'' to supply the water to stakeholder states.199
Records of the Geological Survey of India
Project will hold 580 million cubic metres water during monsoon and release into Yamuna during dry months.
India Today, 8 May 2016. Construction of Lakhwar dam commenced in early 2018 with the 4 year target completion date of December 2022. Vyasi dam has already been under construction since 2016.

History

In 1976, Planning Commission granted approval for the project. In 1986 environmental clearance was granted and construction on the tall dam began in 1987 by Jaypee Group under the supervision of the Uttar Pradesh Irrigation Department, when the area belonged to

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 ...

. In 1992, the construction was halted at 35 percent progress after Jaypee Group pulled out due to the lack of funding. In 2008, it was notified as a national project by the union govt and the union govt will bear the 90% cost. In November 2013, construction restarted on the Vyasi Dam and it once again received environmental clearance from the

Ministry of Environment and Forests The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) is an Government of India, Indian government Ministry (government department), ministry. The ministry Portfolio (government), portfolio is currently held by Bhupender Yadav, Union ...

in February 2014. Vyasi Dam was expected to be completed in 2016, revised to 2018. Project was stalled for almost 30 years, which was expedited with enhanced compensation payment in 2016 to the displaced villagers.

Current status

During 2016, Vyasi Dam and Hathiari Power Station were being constructed simultaneously, and Lakhwar Dam was planned to be constructed after the completion of Vyasi dam, due to the lack of funds.Uttarakhand's new CM TS Rawat seeks release of funds for Lakhwar dam

Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

, 22 March 2017. All approvals are in place for the whole project including the Lakhwar Dam, except for the funding from the union government (c. 2017).A ‘green’ rap on the knuckles

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...

, 22 Sept 2016. In April 2016, things were expedited when

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

, under Prime Minister

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...

, granted clearance for the release of funding for the whole project at an estimated cost of INR39.7 billion (3966.51 crore), including INR25 billion (2578.23 crore) for the irrigation component to build dam and canals and INR13,9 billion (1388.28 crore) for the power generation component.Status of Lakhwar Dam
Business Standard, 2 Dec 2016. Subsequently, in January 2018, bid for the construction of Lakhwar dam and 300MW power station was called by the Uttrakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited.Haryana to rejuvenate the existing canal system

, 8 Jan 2018. Soon after in early 2018, Prime Minister Modi laid the foundation stone, and construction commenced after contracts were awarded with a target completion deadline of 4 years by December 2022.Kirishi Samvad
, Oct 2018.

The project

The 927MW electricity and 580 million cubic metres water capacity project will irrigate 40,000 hectare land, and submerge 50 villages and 868.08 ha of forest land.

Stakeholder states

The project will water to the states of

Haryana Haryana () is a States and union territories of India, state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out after the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab, India, Punjab on 1 November 1966. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with les ...

Uttrakhand Uttarakhand (, ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in northern India. The state is bordered by Himachal Pradesh to the northwest, Tibet to the north, Nepal to the east, Uttar Pradesh to the south and sout ...

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

and

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

's share in this project is 1.22 lakh acre feet additional water.Haryana CM visits Lakhwar
Daily Post, 2016.

Lakhwar Dam and Power Station

Lakhwar Dam is 192 meter high concrete

with 165.9 meter long

head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple ani ...

and 20 to 50 km long backwater reservoir on

near Lohari village close to Lakhwar town, with 900 MW (3 X 300 MW)

Underground power station An underground power station is a type of hydroelectric power station constructed by excavating the major components (e.g. machine hall, penstocks, and tailrace) from rock, rather than the more common surface-based construction methods. One or mo ...

on right/east side of Yamuna river.The wretched and the dammed
22 July 2016. It will have storage capacity of 333.04 million cubic meter.Lakhwar-Vyasi project
/ref>

Vyasi Dam

Vyasi Dam, also Byasi Dam, is 86 meter high concrete gravity dam with 113.92 meter long head that will be built 5 km downstream from Lakhwar Dam, with 120 MW power generation capacity at Hathiari.Vyasi dam
. It is close to Juddo village which will be flooded once the dam is complete. Expected to be completed in May 2018.

Hathiari Power Station

Hathiari Power Station, 0.5 km downstream from Vyasi dam on the right/east side of the Yamuna, will have 120 MW of electricity generation capacity. The power station will have a 2.7 km long

Run-of-the-river hydroelectricity Run-of-river hydroelectricity (ROR) or run-of-the-river hydroelectricity is a type of hydroelectric generation plant whereby little or no water storage is provided. Run-of-the-river power plants may have no water storage at all or a limited amou ...

power tunnel 7 meters in diameter with 70 Cumecs discharge, a 63.50 meter high Surge shaft 18 meters in diameter, two Pressure shafts each 209 meters long and 4 meters in diameter, and a Surface Power House (72 meters long x 24 meters wide x 40.2 meters high) with two Semi Umbrella Generators of 60 MW each composed of two Vertical Francis Turbines.

Katapathar Barrage

Katapathar Barrage, with the maximum ponding water level at 514.5m elevation, will be built further 2.75 km downstream of the "Hathiari Power Station". It will be used to store and uniformly distribute water to the stakeholder states.

References

External links

2016 news report on the status

Citations

{{Power Stations of Uttarakhand Dams in Uttarakhand Dams under construction Dams on the Yamuna River Hydroelectric power stations in Uttarakhand Dehradun district Irrigation in Haryana Irrigation in Rajasthan Irrigation in Uttarakhand