Cabinet nod to complete North Koel reservoir project

New Delhi, Aug 16 (IANS) The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday gave its approval to complete the remaining work on the North Koel reservoir project that will provide irrigation to 1,11,521 hectares of land in the most drought prone areas of Jharkhand and Bihar, an official release said. The unfinished project is currently providing irrigation to 71,720 hectares of land. The estimated cost of completing the project is Rs 1,622.27 crore which would be spent in three financial years from the start of the work. The Cabinet also approved the storage of water in the dam restricted at a lower level than envisaged earlier to reduce the submergence and to protect Betla National Park and Palamau Tiger Reserve. The North Koel reservoir project is situated on North Koel river, a tributary of Sone river that finally merges into the Ganga. The North Koel reservoir is located in the 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 Bihar government. The major components of the project are: a 67.86 m high and 343.33 m long concrete dam called Mandal dam originally intended to store 1160 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 a distributaries system for irrigation. "With the new lowered elevation level 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 and Garhwa districts in Jharkhand apart from Aurangabad and Gaya districts in Bihar," the release said. After completion, the project will provide additional irrigation benefit to 39,801 hectares.         comments powered by Disqus