Centre approves completion of balance work of North Koel Reservoir

Speed Post News Network

New Delhi : The Union Cabinet chaired by PM Narendra Modi on August 16, 2017, gave its approval to the proposal to complete the balance works of the North Koel Reservoir Project in Jharkhand and Bihar at an estimated expenditure of Rs 1,622.27 crore to be incurred during three financial years from the start of the project.

The Cabinet also approved storage of water in dam restricted at lower level than envisaged earlier to reduce the submergence and to protect Betla National Park and Palamau Tiger Reserve, according to a PIB release.

The project is situated on North Koel river, a tributary of Sone river finally joining river Ganga.  The North Koel Reservoir is located in the most backward tribal areas in Palamau and Garhwa districts of Jharkhand. The construction was originally started in 1972 and continued till 1993 when it was stopped by the Forest Department, Government of Bihar. Since then, the work on dam is at a standstill. The major components of project are: 67.86 m high and 343.33 m long concrete dam called Mandal dam originally intended to  store 1,160 million cubic metre (MCM) water,  819.6 m long barrage at Mohammadganj, 96 km downstream of the dam and two canals originating from left and right banks of Mohammadganj Barrage with distributaries system for irrigation, according o the PIB relaese.

With the new lowered elevation level (EL) of 341 metre, the Mandal dam will now have storage of 190 MCM.  The project aims to provide irrigation to 1,11,521 hectares of land annually in the most backward and drought prone areas of Palamu & Garhwa districts in Jharkhand and Aurangabad & Gaya districts in Bihar.