NOTE ON BURHAI RESERVOIR PROJECT

Category Major (New) Estimated Cost 1520.87 Crore (Price Level 2016) 18500 ha.(Burhai) + Additional 4400ha (Sikatia CCA command) Annual Irrigation 33500 ha.(Kharif : 15800ha; Rabi : 17700 ha.) B.C. Ratio 1.08

1. INTRODUCTION

Jharkhand, located in eastern , was carved out of the state of Bihar on November 15th 2000. The capital city of is , with as its sub-capital, while as its largest and industrial city. Other important cities of Jharkhand are , Bokaro and Haziribagh. The population of Jharkhand is 32,966,238 (2011 census) and covers an area of 79,714 km sq. Districts and Administration in Jharkhand: Jharkhand has 24 districts, which are grouped into 5 divisions. Tourism in Jharkhand: Jharkhand is blessed with natural beauty and has many hills, forests, temples and wildlife sanctuaries. Some of Jharkhand's popular tourist attractions are Ranchi Hills, Dassam Falls, Sun Temple, Deogarh, and Jamshedpur among others.

THE RIVER BASIN Pathro is an important south flowing river between Ajay and Jayanti in northern Jharkhand and south of Bihar. In fact, the project lies in the furthest N.E. Extension of main Chotanagapur Platue. The Pathro basin lies between Lat. 24°15’N to 24°30’N Long. 86°15’E to 86°45’E. The area lies on south of lower Gangetic plain, as the tribal belt of santhal parganas division, whereas kiul-Harorar basin on the west. Northen part of the basin constitute Mayurakhi basin. The river basin lies between 24°15’ to 24°30’N latitude and 86°15’E to 86°45’E longitude and has total catchment area of about 340 km2. Tourist attractions of Baidyanath Dam in district are situated on the bank of the main river Ajay.

The Pathro river is tributary of the river Ajay belonging to lower gangetic plains. It has its origin in the thickly wooded forests of Monghyr and district.. 1 THE PROJECT Aim Government of Jharkhand has embarked upon an ambitious plan of harnessing the untapped irrigation potential of various river basins of the state. Pathro river basin is one such river basin which is proposed to be tapped for creating additional irrigation potential in its lower reach through the proposed Burhai Reservoir Project. With the aim of ameliorating the lot of the poor inhabitants of the area, this project has been taken up by the Water Resources Department of Govt. of Jharkhand. The Burhai Reservoir Project has been proposed on river Pathro, a tributary of the Ajoy in lower gangetic plains. It is irrigation - cum - domestic water supply scheme, located in Deoghar district of Jharkhand. The Burhai Reservoir Project is proposed to be constructed in the river Pathro near Burhai village in the District of Deoghar to cater mainly irrigation, municipal demands and flood control etc. The project command lies downstream on Left & Right bank of the river Pathro. The Burhai Reservoir project is one of five major irrigation projects proposed by the Jharkhand Government in the Ajoy basin. As per the agreement on utilization of water resources of the Ajoy basin reached between Jharkhand (than Bihar) and West Bengal on 19th July, 1978, Bihar (Jharkahnd) has been allocated a share of 1, 23,348 ha. m (one million acre ft) of water from Ajoy basin to be utilized by Bihar through Sikatia barrage and four other reservoir projects planned in the Ajoy basin viz. Punasi, Sarkunda and Dhakwa besides Burhai reservoir. The river system of Ajoy basin is shown in Fig. 1.

The project area is located in dry sub-humid zone. Conservation of this scarce water resource is important for development of the region. The topography permits irrigation by gravity to a large area. 2 Assessment of the available water resource is required to determine the extent of area that can be provided with irrigation facility as well as meeting drinking water needs. The Burhai Reservoir Project envisages construction of a 5747 m long earthen dam, with an Ogee Spillway of 101.0 m in length across Pathro River at 24022’ N latitude and 36032’ E longitude near village Burhai in Deoghar district of Jharkhand. The catchment area intercepted by dam is 340 km2. The construction of the dam at Burhai creates a reservoir having gross storage capacity of 234 MCM at 260.75 m. The live storage capacity is 180.7 MCM at Full Reservoir Level (FRL) of 260.0 m Head work site is situated about 1 km u/s of the Burhai Village under Madhupur block of the Deoghar. The site is approachable by a 30 km long Pucca road from Madhupur town & 25 km from Deoghar. The nearest railway station is Jagdishpur lies in single-track broad gauge railway line from Madhupur Junction to Giridih. Madhupur Junction is one of the important railway stations lying on double track broad gauge main line of the E.R. In view of the above fact the gross command area (GCA), Culturable Command Area (CCA), proposed annual irrigation and intensity of irrigation for the project was revised as given in the table below

Gross Command Area (GCA) 40583 ha Culturable Command Area (CCA) 18500 ha(Burhai) & additional 4400 ha (Sikatia) Proposed Annual Irrigation Kharif 15800 ha Rabi 17700ha Total 33500 ha Intensity of Irrigation w.r.t irrigated area 157%

PROJECT FEATURES

The project contemplates construction of the following components:

i. Earthen Dam: Construction of earthen Dam of 5.747Km. length with maximum height of 27.5m. ii. Concrete Spillway: An ogee shaped concrete spillway of 101.0m length to pass a flood of 4100 cumecs, with 7 + (1 no gate stand by) steel gates of size 10 mx8m hydro mechanically operated . iii. Head regulators: Two head regulators; one Head Regulator of discharge capacity 9.0 cumec at Left flank of the dam and another one of 8.6 cumec capacity at Right flank of the dam. iv. Canal system:  33.254 km long Left Main canal of discharge capacity of 9.0 cumec off-taking from left bank of Burhai dam, Length of branch Canal Distributaries & Sub-distributaries 90.84 K.M.  29.9 km long Right Main canal of discharge capacity of 8.6 cumec off-taking from right bank of Burhai dam. Length of branch Canal Distributaries & Sub-distributaries 116.72 K.M 3 v. C.C. Lining: Complete canal system is proposed to be lined.

The area proposed to be irrigated during Rabi is 17700 ha (13300 Burhai+ 4400 Sikatia) while 15800 ha (Burhai) is proposed to be irrigated during Kharif. The different crops, corresponding area proposed to be irrigated and their corresponding water requirement for lined canal system are shown in the table below:

Sl. Gross Irrigation Water Name of crop Area of Irrigation (Ha) No. Requirement MCM Season : Rabi 1 Wheat 6300 29.15 2 Gram (Pulses) 2000 13.71 Mustard 3 3700 21.61 Vegetable 4 5700 25.88 17700 Sib-Total (Rabi) (13300ha Burhai + 90.35 4400ha Sikatia) Season : Kharif 1 Rice 8900 42.70 Maize 2 3400 1.47 Groundnut 3 2000 1.20

4 Vegetable 1500 0.51 Sib-Total (Kharif) 15800 45.88 Total 33500 136.23

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