In Punjab on this day 59 years ago “Modern temple of resurgent India” was dedicated to the Nation
Kanwar Inder Singh/ royalpatiala.in
The Bhakra dam is one of the earliest river valley development schemes undertaken after the independence of India. Former Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru, who showcased the project as “resurgent India’s new temple”, dedicated it to the nation on October 22, 1963.
Nehru’s remark on Bhakra Dam “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 59 years of its existence on Saturday has changed the fortunes of the entire country.
The project was signed by then Punjab Revenue Minister Sir Chhotu Ram in November 1944 with the king of Bilaspur and was finalised on January 8, 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.
The Bhakra Dam is the second tallest dam in Asia and located in the border of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. It is the highest straight gravity dam in India with the height of about 207.26 meters has a length of 518.25(1,700 ft) meters and a width of 9.1 meters (30ft) approximately.
Former Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru, who showcased the project as “resurgent India’s new temple”, visited the project 10 times during its construction.
At the ceremony to mark the dedication of the Bhakra Dam 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 this day 59 years ago “Modern temple of resurgent India” was dedicated to the Nation. 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 22,2022
