Seven dams to come up on the Mahanadi river

In a move aimed at facilitating water requirement of the industries, Chhattisgarh government has decided to construct seven barrages on the Mahanadi.

Of the seven barrages, four would come up in Janjgir-Champa district, where maximum number of power plants are proposed to be set up if all the Memoranda of Understanding signed by the state government materialised.

The remaining three barrages would be built in Raigarh and Raipur districts.

The state government would invest Rs 1,467 crore to build the seven barrages, an official press note issued by the Chhattisgarh government said. The government would, however, get a tax of Rs 628 crore annually for the water it would give to the industries.

Senior officials with the water resources department said that the project was likely to be completed in three years.

Construction of barrages would help increasing the ground water level that would help villagers besides serving the purpose of irrigation, the officials added.

The main purpose of taking up the project was, however, aimed at providing water resources to the industries coming up in the districts.

Janjgir-Champa would have maximum number of barrages under the proposal chalked out by the state government.

All the prominent industries coming up in the region would get water from the barrages.

The major names include National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), Ispat Industries Limited, Jindal India Limited, Toronto Power Limited, Moser Baer Limited, GMR Energy, Lanco Amarkantak and Essar among others.