Dams, Canals and Big Irrigation Projects

How big dams like Bhakra and Sardar Sarovar store water and power, their benefits and costs, and why many canal projects underperform.

After independence, India built many large dams. Jawaharlal Nehru called them “temples of modern India”.

Benefits

Irrigation for millions of hectares.
Hydropower.
Flood control.
Drinking water for cities.

Famous projects

Bhakra Nangal (1963): irrigated Punjab and Haryana, supporting the Green Revolution.
Sardar Sarovar on the Narmada (completed in 2017): supplies water to Gujarat, Rajasthan and others.

Costs

Displacement: lakhs of people displaced by reservoirs, often with inadequate compensation. The Narmada Bachao Andolan protested for decades.
Environmental damage to rivers and forests.
High costs and long delays.

Underperformance

Many canal projects irrigate less land than planned due to:

Incomplete distribution canals.
Silting of reservoirs.
Poor maintenance.

The gap

The Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme and PM Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (2015) aim to complete stalled projects.

The unfinished canal

A dam is completed, but the smaller canals that carry water to fields are unfinished. Water sits in the reservoir while farmers downstream still depend on rain.

Thinking a completed dam means irrigated fields

Distribution canals and maintenance often lag.

Key takeaways

Large dams provide irrigation, power and flood control.
Bhakra and Sardar Sarovar are major projects.
Displacement and environmental damage are serious costs.
Many canal projects irrigate less than planned.