Koyna Dam

Koyna Dam is one of the largest dams in Maharashtra in India. It is located in Koyna Nagar, nestled in the Western Ghats on the state highway between Chiplun and Karad in Maharashtra. The dam supplies water to the whole region of western Maharashtra as well as cheap hydroelectric power to the neighbouring areas with a capacity of 1,920 MW. The Koyna project is actually composed of four dams, with the Koyna dam the largest dam with the largest catchment area.

The catchment area dams the Koyna River and forms a huge lake — the Shivsagar Lake whose length is 50 kilometres. Completed in 1963, it is one of the largest civil engineering projects commissioned after Indian independence. The Koyna electricity project is run by the Maharashtra State Electricity Board. Most of the generators are located in excavated caves a kilometre deep, inside the heart of the surrounding hills.

The dam is blamed for the spate of earthquakes in the recent past. In 1968 a devastating earthquake almost razed the dam, with the dam developing major cracks. Geologists are still uncertain if the Koyna Dam is responsible for the spate in seismic activity.

Statistics

• Storage:
  • Gross storage: 98.78 TMC
  • Live: 93.65 TMC
  • Dead: 5.125 TMC
• Length: 807.22 m
• Height: 85.35 m
• Year of completion: 1963