India: A team of National Remote Sensing Authority (NRSA) is likely to conduct a study soon on Mahanadi river to understand the reasons for heavy siltation around Hirakud dam. The issue caught media attention after authorities of Hirakud reservoir said the dam was suffering from heavy siltation.
Experts say that Hirakud’s trouble stems from Chhattisgarh’s effort at industrialisation. As the neighbouring state cleared plantation along the river to give space to industries, the lose soil flowed all the way from the upstream and got deposited in the Hirakud. This contributed to the dam’s water retention capacity going down.
The reservoir’s water-holding capacity had been reduced by 17 per cent by 2006 and fell further since then. However, the NRSA is yet to conduct a study to ascertain the exact extent of siltation.
Executive engineer of the dam, considered among the biggest earthen dams in the world, Harmohan Pradhan said: “The storage capacity has been reduced by 17 per cent of its live storage capacity (590 feet to 630 feet). It must have further decreased, but we will know the exact extent after the National Remote Sensing Authority undertakes a study. We have already made a request in this regard.”
