India’s gem “Bhakra Dam” celebrates its Raising Day
Kanwar Inder Singh/ royalpatiala.in
Former prime minister of India Jawahar Lal Nehru’s October 22, 1963, speech terming Bhakra the “modern temple of resurgent India” comes true as it has made a major contribution to the Green Revolution to make the country self-sufficient in food grains. Bhakra dam,the highest concrete gravity one in Asia, has created the Gobind Sagar Lake, has completed 58 years of its existence on Friday.
Bhakhra Beas Management Board (BBMB) chairman Sanjay Srivastava said that the dam had changed the fortunes of the entire country.
“A series of function was organized at Nangal Township in Punjab to mark the occasion. Around 25 events were held to mark this special event like tree plantation, drawing competition, cultural programe, cycle rally etc etc.” said Chairman Srivastava”
He further added that we have made a special media committee, who had coordinated with the media, for this special event He asked the journalist to contact Rahul Kansal, who is coordinating with the media or SE Er Kamboj as they will provide the detail of the series of events. When this journalist contacts SE Hussan Lal Kamboj, he said “though I’m not in the media committee but I’ll ask Rahul or other member of the media committee to call you and give you the information. But no one contacted the journalist who wants to highlight the good things done by the BBMB and to highlight the event.”
The Dam that Built India
While chasing a leopard at Bhakra village in Himachal Pradesh, Sir Louis Dane, a British general, chanced upon the Suni and Badu gorges where the river Sutlej flowed in full fury. On November 8, 1908, he sent a proposal to the colonial rulers for constructing a reservoir for water storage and power . The proposal was junked on account of high-priced cost.
Then a draft Bilaspur Agreement between Punjab government and Raja of Bilaspur was made in 1945, that restricted maximum reservoir level to 1,580 feet .After the India got Independence, in 1948, the project was redesigned to have a reservoir level of 1,680 ft. After the sates were merged with the Union, the height was increased to 1,685 feet.
After several project reports, the final proposal of a multipurpose power plant came up in 1951.Bhakra Canal System inaugurated on July 7, 1954, preceded the dam. A 10-km rail line was constructed to carry material and manpower. It still runs free service for locals and BBMB staff. Construction activity started in full swing only after April 1952, when M Harvey Slocum, an American engineer, arrived with his team.
Construction of the dam started in 1948; Jawaharlal Nehru poured the first bucket of concrete into the dry riverbed of the Sutlej on 17 November 1955, as a symbolic initiation of the work.
Initially, the construction of the dam was started by Sir Louis Dane, the Lieutenant Governor of Punjab. But the project got delayed and was restarted soon after independence under the chief architect Rai Bahadur Kunwar Sen Gupta.
Former prime minister Jawahar Lal Nehru, who showcased the project as “resurgent India’s new temple”, visited the project 10 times during its construction and dedicated it to the nation on October 22, 1963.
At the ceremony to mark the dedication of the Bhakra–Nangal project to the nation, Prime Minister Nehru said, “This dam has been built with the unrelenting toil of man for the benefit of mankind and therefore is worthy of worship. May you call it a Temple or a Gurdwara or a Mosque, it inspires our admiration and reverence”.
On 22 October 2013, the Government of India approved the release of a commemorative stamp to mark the 50th anniversary of the Bhakra Dam.
October 23,2021
