The Idukki Dam is a double curvature

arch dam An arch dam is a concrete dam that is curved upstream in plan. The arch dam is designed so that the force of the water against it, known as hydrostatic pressure, presses against the arch, causing the arch to straighten slightly and strengthe ...

constructed across the

Periyar River Periyar, , (meaning: ''big river'') is the longest river and the river with the largest discharge potential in the Indian state of Kerala. It is one of the few perennial rivers in the region and provides drinking water for several major towns. ...

in a narrow gorge between two granite hills locally known as '' Kuravan'' and ''Kurathi'' in Idukki,

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. At , it is one of the highest

s in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

. It is constructed and owned by the

Kerala State Electricity Board Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) is an Indian public sector undertaking under the Government of Kerala that generates, transmits and distributes electricity in the state under government monopoly. Established in 1957, the agency comes und ...

. It supports a 780 MW

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

power station in

Moolamattom Moolamattom is the headquarters of Arakulam Panchayath in Thodupuzha Taluk, Idukki district in Kerala, India. It lies 22 km from Thodupuzha, on the banks of the Thodupuzha River, a tributary of the Muvattupuzha river. Moolamattom is famou ...

, which started generating power on 4 October 1975. The dam type is a concrete, double curvature parabolic, thin arc dam. The Indo-Canadian project was inaugurated by the Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on February 17, 1976. This dam was constructed along with two other dams at

Cheruthoni Cheruthoni () is a town on the banks of Cheruthoni River, a major tributary of the Periyar River, the second longest river in Kerala state, India. The area is known by Cheruthoni Dam, which is a part of Idukki reservoir, which provide hydroelec ...

and Kulamavu. Together, the three dams and Two saddle dams, Kulamavu Saddle Dam (Near Junction) and

Kulamavu Saddle Dam (Right Bank) Kulamavu Saddle Dam (RIght Bank) is an Earthen Dam constructed across Kilivallithodu at Arakkulam village in Idukki District of Kerala, India. It is One of the two saddle dams constructed to augment Idukki reservoir. Dam has a height of and a l ...

have created an artificial lake that is in area. The stored water is used to produce electricity at the Moolamattom Power house, which is located inside nearby rocky caves. Narakakkanam, Azhutha,

Vazhikkadavu Vazhikkadavu is a village in Nilambur taluk of Malappuram district, Kerala, India. Geography It is located on the CNG (Calicut-Nilambur-Gudalur) road 20 km north-east of Nilambur. Just after Vazhikkadavu town the ''ghat'' road known as ...

, Vadakkepuzha and Kuttiar diversion schemes were later added to augment the Idukki reservoir . Idukki Dam Reservoir

History

Early surveys

The idea of constructing a dam for power generation was first conceived in 1919 in a report submitted by Italian engineer Jacob to the Travancore government, which was rejected. As per history, Shri Chemban Karuvellayan Kolumban, the head of 'Oorali' tribe during 1922, showed the way to the Malankara Estate Superintendent W.J.John and his friend AC Thomas Edattu, who were on hunting trip to forests near the present Arch Dam. Upon hearing the legend of Kuravan and Kurathi Hills, Thomas impressed by the sight of water flow between the mountains; suggested the spot suitable for an

Arch dam An arch dam is a concrete dam that is curved upstream in plan. The arch dam is designed so that the force of the water against it, known as hydrostatic pressure, presses against the arch, causing the arch to straighten slightly and strengthe ...

. In 1932, W.J.John submitted a report to the Government of Travancore on the possibility of constructing a dam at Idukki for Power Generation. In 1935, assembly member Shri.K.A.Narayana Pillai brought the Idukki project to the attention of Government of

Travancore The Kingdom of Travancore ( /ˈtrævənkɔːr/), also known as the Kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor, was an Indian kingdom from c. 1729 until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvananthapuram. At ...

. Italian engineers Angelo Omedayo and Clantheyo Masele conducted a study in 1937 but things didn't go forward. In 1947, a preliminary investigation report was prepared and submitted by Sri. P. Joseph John, then The Chief Electrical Engineer to the Government of

. It was during 1956 that the Central Water Commission conducted a detailed investigation based on the Government's request. The project report was prepared in 1961 and the Planning Commission accorded sanction for implementing the scheme in 1963. In 1964, under the leadership of Sri. E.U.Philipose, Superintending Engineer, preliminary works of the project were started.

Construction

The construction of this Dam commenced on 30 April 1969. The project lead by Dr.D.Babu Paul IAS, who appointed as Project Coordinator, Idukki Hydel Project & District Collector with several engineers like Sri. C.V Mathews, Sri. M. Ramachandran, (Retired Chief Engineers, Kerala State Electricity Board) . The

Government of Canada The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown ...

aided the Project with long-term loans and grants.

SNC-Lavalin SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. is a Canadian company based in Montreal that provides engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) services to various industries, including mining and metallurgy, oil and gas, environment and water, infrastructure, a ...

, Canada, a well-known firm of Consulting Engineers were advising and assisting Project Engineers under Canadian aid, while

Hindustan Construction Company Hindustan Construction Company Limited (HCC) is an Indian Engineering, Procurement, Construction, and Project Management companies. It is headquartered in Mumbai. HCC was founded by Industrialist Seth Walchand Hirachand in 1926. HCC has exe ...

(a.k.a. HCC) of

Walchand group Walchand group is a business organization that came into existence in the 20th century, founded by industrialist Walchand Hirachand Doshi. Walchand Hirachand founded several companies, some of which were among the firsts in India in their field ...

won the bid for construction. Storage of water in Idukki reservoir commenced in February, 1973. The inauguration of trial run of the first machine was celebrated on 4 October 1975. Commercial operation of the Power Station was Commissioned on 12 February 1976 by the then Prime Minister Smt.

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...

Features

Idukki Dam is tall, constructed between the two mountains - Kuravanmala () and Kurathimala (). Length of the dam on its top is . It has a width of in the top and in the bottom. The gross storage capacity of the dam is 1.996 cubic kms (70.50 tmc ft). About of concrete was used in the construction of the dam. This project is situated in Idukki District and its underground power house is located at

which is about from the dam. One thing to be noted is, Idukki Arch dam doesn't have any shutters to be opened so it has to rely on the

Cheruthoni dam The Cheruthoni Dam, located in Idukki District, Kerala, India, is a 138m tall concrete gravity dam. This dam was constructed in 1976 as part of the Idukki Hydroelectric Project along with two other dams Idukki and Kulamavu. The Government of ...

to maintain the reservoir water level. Idukki013

Usage

, , , , , , , , , , Power Generation The Project harnesses a major portion of the power potential of

Periyar Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy (17 September 1879 – 24 December 1973), revered as Periyar or Thanthai Periyar, was an Indian social activist and politician who started the Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam. He is known as the ' ...

, the largest river in

, by the creation of a reservoir of 2,000 M.cum (2 Billion Tonnes) capacity, diversion of waters thus impounded through a water conductor system consisting of a power tunnel and two underground pressure shafts to an underground power house situated in

. The installed capacity of the Power House is 780 MW consisting of 6 Units of

Pelton-type The Pelton wheel or Pelton Turbine is an impulse-type water turbine invented by American inventor Lester Allan Pelton in the 1870s. The Pelton wheel extracts energy from the impulse of moving water, as opposed to water's dead weight like the trad ...

turbines with a power generation capacity of 130 MW each. The regulated waters of Periyar falls through a drop of about while generating power in the underground power house. The generated power is given to two sub stations. One double circuit line to Kalamassery; one single circuit line to Tamil Nadu; One single circuit line to Pallom, 3 feeder bays for future. Irrigation The tail waters flowing to Kudayathurpuzha through tunnel and open channel is diverted for irrigation purposes in the

Muvattupuzha Muvattupuzha () is a town in the midlands directly to the east of Kochi in Ernakulam district, Kerala, India. It is located about from downtown Kochi, and is a growing urban centre in central Kerala. The town is also the starting poin ...

Valley. Tourist destination and attraction Earlier, there was a blanket ban on public entry in to the dam due to security reasons. Later, it was relaxed opening the dam for public for 10 days during the Onam and the Christmas seasons. The duration has been increased to one month since last year. Cameras and cell phones are not allowed inside the dam area. The entry fee is Rs. 25 for adults and Rs. 5 for children. The fee for 15-minute boating service for five persons is Rs. 600. Idukki valley is away from

Kottayam Kottayam () is a municipal town in the Indian state of Kerala. Flanked by the Western Ghats on the east and the Vembanad Lake and paddy fields of Kuttanad on the west. It is the district headquarters of Kottayam district, located in south- ...

, and is a small hill town surrounded by a spread of beautiful, wooded valleys and meandering streams. Idukki is a well known tourist center in Kerala. The Idukki Wildlife Sanctuary extends over the

Thodupuzha Thodupuzha (തൊടുപുഴ) is a municipal town located in Idukki district, Kerala, India, that covers an area of . It lies on the banks of Thodupuzha river, which merges with the Kaliyar and Kothamangalam rivers at Muvattupuzha to for ...

and

Udumbanchola Udumbanchola is a taluk in Idukki district of Kerala state in India. This is in the high ranges. Nedumkandam is the major town and capital of Udumbanchola taluk. Mathikettan Shola National Park is located in Udumbanchola. In July 2019, a tea ...

taluks of Idukki district, spread over and is about above sea level. The Idukki Reservoir formed by three dams -

, Idukki and Kulamavu - extends to . One can find elephants, bisons, sambar deer, wild dogs, jungle cats, tigers, wild boars etc. and a variety of snakes like cobra, viper, krait and a number of non-venomous snakes in this sanctuary. The birds of Idukki are Jungle fowl, myna, laughing thrush, black bulbul, peafowl, woodpecker, kingfisher, eagle etc.

References

www.kvidukki.Gov.in

External links

*
Idukki Dam shortfilm
*

* https://idukki.gov.in/tourist-place/idukki-arch-dam/ *Interesting Facts abou
Idukki dam
* Kendriya Vidyalaya, Idukki,Hill Station {{Dams in Kerala Arch dams Hydroelectric power stations in Kerala Dams completed in 1973 1973 establishments in Kerala Dams in Idukki district