New Delhi, Sept. 22 -- The proposed Kishau Multipurpose Project, which is expected to strengthen water availability in the Upper Yamuna Basin and provide a water allocation to Delhi, will be developed across the Uttarakhand-Himachal Pradesh border, with the dam, reservoir, power infrastructure and rehabilitation works spread across identified areas of the two states.

The project is planned near Sambarkhera on the inter-state boundary, with the dam site on the Tons river, a tributary of the Yamuna. The site is around 45 km upstream of Dakpathar and 10 km upstream of Ichari

Dam. A 232.6-metre-high concrete gravity dam is proposed to be constructed across the river.

The project will require a total land footprint of around 2,950 hectares. Of this, 2,438 hectares comprise forest and government land and 512 hectares are private land. Uttarakhand will account for 1,452 hectares, including 1,117 hectares of forest/government land and 335 hectares of private land. Himachal Pradesh will account for 1,498 hectares, comprising 1,321 hectares of forest/government land and 177 hectares of private land.

The reservoir is planned to have a gross storage capacity of around 1,786-1,789 million cubic metres and live storage of 1,561.91 million cubic metres. The project will also include a 10.5-metre-diameter diversion tunnel, a six-bay spillway and a surface powerhouse on the left bank.

The powerhouse will have four units of 105.5 MW each, giving the project an installed capacity of 422 MW. It is expected to generate 1,457.22 million units of electricity annually.

The physical footprint will also involve rehabilitation and resettlement in both states. According to the project details, 1,421 families comprising 9,284 people are likely to be affected. Uttarakhand accounts for 714 families and 5,478 people, while Himachal Pradesh accounts for 707 families and 3,806 people.

The project is proposed to be implemented through Kishau Corporation Ltd, a joint venture of the governments of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand constituted in 2017. The DPR prepared by KCL is currently under appraisal by the Central Water Commission.

For Delhi, the project is significant as the national capital is among the six beneficiary states under the Upper Yamuna Basin framework. The project allocation provides Delhi with 94 million cubic metres of water benefits.

The latest development came on September 15, when Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Delhi signed an MoU for the Kishau Multipurpose Dam Project in New Delhi. The agreement was signed under the chairmanship of Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah, in the presence of Union Jal Shakti Minister C R Patil and the chief ministers of the six states. The agreement provides the inter-state framework for taking forward the project, which is intended to meet irrigation, drinking-water and other water requirements across the beneficiary states.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.