GOVERNMENT OF INDIA ER COMMISSION REPORT OF THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON HIRAKUD DAM PROJECT * MARCH 1952 * Plt!Nl'ED IN INDIA BY THE MANAGER, GOVERNMENT OF INDIA PRESS, SIMlA IDRAKUD. 6th March, 1952, To The Secretary to the Government of India, Ministry of Natural ~esourcea and Scientific Research, ·NEw DELm. DEAR Sm, We the Members of the Advisory Committee on Hirakud Dam Project, appointed by the Go vt. o India vide Resolution No. DWII-12(24) dated the lOth January 1952, have reviewed the Revised Esti mates of the Hirakud Dam Project prepared by the Central Water and Power Commission, and submi· ~ our Report for the con..~iderati<?n of the Government. Th~ Committee met at Hira.kud on the 11th February and concluded its sitting on the 6th March 1952. During this period, it inspected the works under construction and the areas to be irrigated bot] in the Sambalpur District and the Delta lower down and interviewed several important officers of th1 Orissa State and the Hirakud Administration. · We wish to acknowledge the unfailing courtesy and cooperation r~ceived from Shri B. Sivaraman I.C.S., Commissioner, Northern Circle and Member, Board of Revenues, Orissa and his officers; Sill Kanwar Sain, I.S.E., Member (Designs) and Chief Engineer, Hirakud Dam Project, his Superintendin1 Engineers and Executive Engineers; Shri S. Sundararajan, Financial Adviser and Chief Accounts Officei Hirakud Dam Project; Dr. J. B. Mohanty, Secretary, River Valley Development Department, Orissa Mr. J. Shaw, I.S.E., Chief Engineer (Irrigation) Orissa; Shri R. L. Narayanan, ChiefEngineer (Electri city), Orissa ; Col. B. N. Hajra, Director, Public Health, Orissa ; Dr. Ramanujam, Director, Central Ric1 Research Institute and Shri Pujari, Director of Agriculture, Orissa anlj. his staff. Particularly we wisl to place on record our high appreciation of the services rendered by our Secretary Shri M. G. Hiranandani But for his hard work and thorough grasp of facts concerning this Project, it is doubtful if we woulc complete the work within such a short time. In our considered judgement the Revised Estimates of the Hirakud Dam Project, as modified by us are fair on the basis of the present price level~neither inflated nor inadequate and are acceptable, . Yours faithfully, (Sd.) s. c. MAJUMDAR, 6-3-52 . (Sd.) M.·L. CHAMPHEKAR, 6-3-52 (Sd.) T. J. MmcBANDANI, 6-3-52 D. A. As above, REPORT OF THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON IDRAK'Q'D DAM PRO~ECT (MARCH 1952) CONTE!)."'TS Page SECTIO~ I-INTRODUCTORY 1.1 Appointment o( Committee .. 1 1.2 Terms of Reference 1 1.3 Programme of visits 1 1.4 Officer~ interviewed 1 SECTION II-TECHNICAL FEASIBn.JTY OF TilE PROJECT 2.1 Technical feasibility •• 2 UNIT NO. I-Main Dum and ApPurten::rm Work& 2.2 Dam Site 2 2.3 Maximum Flood discharge 2 2.4 R88ervoir Capacity 2 2.5 Filling up of Reservoir irJ lean years 2 2.6 Working Table of Hirakud !tcservoir 3 2.7 Water Planning Data 3 2.8 Flood Contr~ 3 2.9 Navigation 3 2.10-Dcsigns 3 UNIT NO. Il-Main C.1.nal8 and Branche8 etc • 2.11 Rainfall ... ·" 4 2.12 Irrigation in the Sambalpur District 4 2.13 CulturaLle Area 4 2.14 Duty 4 2.15 Intensities •• ....... 5 2.16 Water"Table 5 2.17 Crop Rotation 5 2.18 Irrigation in Delta Area 5 2.19 CulturnLle Area 7 2.20 Duty 7 2.21 Intensities 7 2.22 Water Table 8 2.23 Yiolds 8 2.24 Navigation on Delta Canals 8 2.25 Growth of Woods 8 UNIT NO. III-Power 2.26 Salient Features 8 2.27 Water Planning )0 2.28 Power House 10 2.29 Transmission Lines .. 11 2.30 Sub-stations .. .. 12 (it ) . ' Page SECTION IV-FmA.lfOUL AErl:OIPATIONS AND ECONOMICS OJ' TRlil PROJli:OT Rates of OOMtruction · 4.1 Unit No. I-:-M:ain Datri" Appurtenant Works ~. 14 . 4.2 Unit No. II-Main Canals, Branches, Distributaries & water courses .. 14 4.3 l{nit No. ID-Po~er 14 Programme of Construction 4.4.Da.m ,. ••.. 15 4.5 Ca.na.ls ... 15 4.6 Hydi,;.Eiectrio' •• .... 16 4. 7 Cost of the Project ••. · 16 . ~ 4.8 Allocation ·of cost of the Dam between Power and· Irrigation 17 IrrigatiOn 4.9 Water.Rates ,. 18 4.10 Betterment levy ·, • 19 4.10(~) Ra~ of Development of Irrigation . 20 4.10(b) Credit for increase in Land Revenue 20 4.ll Power Gbneration and Utilisation \ ... 20 'Financial Results of the Project-Financial State·menta · 4.12 Estimates of Cost · · •• 21 l.18 Estimates of Revenue- Irr,igation .' .•.•• .•• 21 . ' . Power 21 , 4.14 Allocation of Cost 21 · 4.15 Financial Results..;.. .4.151' Irrigatio~ 21 4.152 Power 22 4.153 Combined Financial Aspect 2% SECTION V-:-MlsCELLANEOUS . 5.1 Financilll. Control-Financial Adviser 23 .. 5.2 Purchase of Stores and Plant through D.G.S. and D. 23 5.3 Remarks' of the Financial Adviser and Chief Accounts Officer ~n the Revised Estimates for Jl!raliud Dam Projeot .. 23 ·· 5.4 Compuls~ry; water rates ~ , .. ·· · 24 5.1$ Settlement _o_f some ~placed per.sons on the fringe of the reservoir 24 5.6 Arrangemj!nts for distributing Hirakud Power 25 5.7 Supply to Naumandi, Rairangpur, etc. in the Northern part of Otissa. State 25 · SECTION VI-CoNCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 8.1 Conclusions •• · .. · 26 6.2 Recommendations 26 SECTION Yll-AcooMPANIMENTS AND AP:eomcEs Aocompaniment !-Tour Programme of the Advisory Committee 29 Accompaniment II-List of Officers interviewed 30 Accompaniment III-Working Table of Hirakud Reservoir for a normal year (1948-49) 31 Accompaniment IV-Working Table of Hirakud Reservoir for a bad year (1947-48) 32 Accompaniment V-Schedule of Rates for compensation of H~uses in the Submerged area 33 Accompaniment VI~Details of Load Survey by Dr. K. P. P. Menon 36 Accompaniment VII-Statement showing the cost of changes recommended by the Committee 38 Accompaniment VIII-:-Development Programme for Power 39 Appendix ,I-A note on ' Malaria in the Deltaic Areas of Orissa. ' by Col. B. N. Hajra • • 40 Appendi.t IT-Statement of extra provisions to be made in the Abstracts of Expenditure submitted by the , Chief Engineer, Hirakud, to the Advisory Committee • • • • • • • • • • 45 Appendix III-Abstracts of Cost · 48 .Appendix IV-Notes on the Disposal of Floods a,nd suggestions for Alternative Arrangements for Irrigation · in the Delta. Areas • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 54 Appendix V-Fina.ncial Statements • • • , 58 SECTION I INTRODUCTORY 1.1 Appointment of Committee (ii) Financial anticipations and econonncs THE Hirakud Dam Project, which was Origi­ of:- nally estimated to cost Rs. 47 · 8 crores was sanc­ tioned by the Government of Orissa in April (a) Irrigation; 1948. On account of gen9'al rise in prices both in India anci. abroad, ~~aluation of the rupee, increase in fu.bour wages, and extension of the (b) Power Generation and Utilisation, and scope of th~oje.Q~jh~ original project estimate had to be rev~· of which amounted to (c) Project as a whole. Rs. 89·09 crores. · The Government of India considered that the (iii) The amount of compensation for land revised estimate should be reviewed by a Com­ and houses acquired in the project area. mittee of Experts, who should examine the project estimates and make their recommendations to the Government in the Ministry of Natural The Committee was appointed to function for Resources and Scientific Research. three weeks from the date of meeting at Hirakud. The following Committee, sanctioned vide Minis­ 1.3 Programme of Visits try of Nat ural Resources and Scientific Research, Resolution No. DWII-12(24) dated lOth and 31st During their stay at Hirakud, the Committee January 1952, was appointed:- visited a number of places round about Hirakud, Sambalpur, Cuttack and Puri. The detailed 1. Shri S. C. Majumdar, Consulting Engin­ programme of their visits appears' in Accompani- eer to the Governii?£nt of West Bengal­ ment No.!. · CHAIRMAN. 2. Shri M. L. Champhekar, I.S.E., Chief Engineer, P.W.D., Government of Bom­ 1. 4 Officers Interviewed bay-MEMBER. The Committee was interviewed by His Ex­ 3. Shri ·T. J. Mirchandani, Chief Engineer, cellency the Governor of Orissa and Hon'ble the Bombay Electrical Grid-MEMBER. Chief Minister of Orissa, and had discussions 4. Shri M. G. Hiranandani, Executive En­ with important officers of both the Hirakud gineer, Central Designs Organisation­ Administration and the Orissa Government. A SECRETARY. full list of officers, who were intervie~ed in this connection is attached'vide Accompaniment No. II. 1.2 Terms of Reference The Committee has accepted the figures of The Committee was requested by the Govern­ quantities and costs supplies as correct and has ment of India to report on the following points:- not exercised any arithmetical checks to test their (i) Technical feasibility of the project; accuracy. 1 SECTION II TECHNICAL FEAsmiLITY OF THE PROJECT 2.1 ,. Technical feasibility which will be a little over 50 per cent more than th. maximum recommended in the Advisory Com .¥~1 This .C~mmittee is not in, · a position , to mittee Report (June 1948). express. an opinion on the broad· question whether the ~roject as now: conceived is technically the The Committee is satisfied that the dischargin: best method Qf achieving the benefits expected to capacity provided, is sufficient. accrue. :It ;has not had the time, nor the oppor­ tunity, for such a ~omprehensive review.. · 2 ~ 4 Reservoir Capacity The Cop.struction work is in; full swing and the cost already incurred amoun~s toRs. 18 crores, The Hirakud Reservoir has been designed fOJ which 1s exclusive 'of the amount of Rs.