The Murguma Dam is constructed on the Saharajhore River, one of the tributary of

Kangsabati River Kangsabati River (Pron:) (also variously known as the Kãsai and Cossye) rises from the Chota Nagpur plateau in the state of West Bengal, India and passes through the districts of Purulia, Bankura, Paschim Medinipur and Purba Medinipur in West ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

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 ...

. The dam is constructed near Murguma village in the foothill of

Ajodhya Hills Ajodhya Hills, is a small plateau with hilly surroundings located in the Purulia district of the state West Bengal, India. It is the easternmost part of the Chhotanagpur Plateau and extended part of Eastern Ghats range. Highest peak of Ajodhya Hil ...

Purulia District Purulia district (Pron: puruliːaː) is one of the twenty-three districts of West Bengal state in Eastern India. Purulia is the administrative headquarters of the district. Some of the other important towns of Purulia district are Raghunathpur- ...

. It's under Kotshila Police Station. A number of other streams also flow into the dam directly from

. The dam is surrounded by hills, forests and a number of small islands within it. The place is situated at the north west end of

which is considered as an eastern extension of

Chota Nagpur Plateau The Chota Nagpur Plateau is a plateau in eastern India, which covers much of Jharkhand state as well as adjacent parts of Chhattisgarh, Odisha, West Bengal and Bihar. The Indo-Gangetic plain lies to the north and east of the plateau, and the bas ...

People and economy

The area is basically inhabited by tribal people, mainly

Santal people The Santal or Santhal are an Austroasiatic speaking Munda ethnic group in South Asia. Santals are the largest tribe in the Jharkhand and West Bengal state of India in terms of population and are also found in the states of Odisha, Bihar and A ...

. The economy is mainly dependent on agriculture. However, the place has a good potentiality to be a popular tourist spot which can improve economic condition of the local people. The government is promoting this place as a tourist destination. This dam is a part of one of the key small irrigation projects in rural as well as arid areas of West Bengal having a considerable percentage of tribal population. It is one of the promising tourist spots of Eastern

region. Till date, no facility of boating offered. The dam and surroundings are preferred locations for backpackers. The dam features in the tourism brochure of Government Tourist Department of Purulia District.

Accessibility

The nearest railway station is

Jhalda Jhalda is a city and a municipality in Purulia district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Jhalda subdivision. Geography Location Jhalda is located at . It has an average elevation of . According to the ''Distri ...

, from where the place is accessible by single metaled road. The other option is to follow the Purulia-Tamna more-Arsha-Begunkodor-Murguma(50 km) route. The accessibility is somehow not so good but that is perhaps one of the reasons that the place still offers wild beauty. Distance from nearby places:

Top = 20 km,

= 16 km,

Begunkodor Begunkodor (Bengali: বেগুনকোদর) is a census town in the Jhalda II CD block in the Jhalda subdivision of the Purulia district of West Bengal near its border with Jharkhand, situated 46 km away from district town Purulia. ...

town = 6 km, Begunkodar rail FH = 12 km,

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

= 340 km,

Purulia Purulia is a city and a municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Purulia district. It is located on the north of the Kangsabati River. Geography Location Purulia is located at . It has an average elev ...

= 50 km,

Durgapur Durgapur () is a planned tier-II urban agglomeration and a major industrial city in Paschim Bardhaman district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the fourth largest urban agglomeration after Kolkata, Asansol and Siliguri in West Bengal ...

= 185 km (via Bankura) 165 km (via Asansol),

Bankura Bankura () is a city and a municipality in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of the Bankura district. Etymology In the Mahabharata, Bankura was described as Suhmobhumi. The word or (in Nagari: rāḍh) was introduced af ...

= 140 km,

Jamshedpur Jamshedpur (, ) or Tatanagar is the largest and most populous city in Jharkhand and the first planned industrial city in India. It is a Notified Area Council and Municipal Corporation and also the headquarter of the East Singhbhum district. It ...

= 110 km,

Ranchi Ranchi (, ) is the capital of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Ranchi was the centre of the Jharkhand movement, which called for a separate state for the tribal regions of South Bihar, northern Odisha, western West Bengal and the eastern area ...

= 95 km,

Asansol Asansol is a (Tier-II) metropolitan city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the second largest and most populated city of West Bengal and the 33rd largest urban agglomeration in India. Asansol is the district headquarters of Paschim Bar ...

= 134 km,

Miscellaneous

Being far from urban disturbance, this dam is a location for research on indigenous aquatic flora and fauna. This area was affected by

Maoist insurgency Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Chi ...

a few years back but now returned to normalcy.

Gallery

Murguma Dam.jpg, View from Ajodhya Hill Murguma_Dam_1.jpg, View from Ajodhya Hill Murguma_Dam_2.jpg, View from Ajodhya Hill Murguma_Dam_3.jpg, View from Ajodhya Hill View of Murguma Dam and Murguma Village from Ajyodhya Hill View Point.jpg, View of Murguma Dam and Murguma Village from Ajyodhya Hill View Point View of Murguma Dam from Ajyodhya Hill View Point.jpg, View of Murguma Dam and Murguma Village from Ajyodhya Hill View Point View of Murguma Dam.jpg, View of Murguma Dam Murguma_Dam_5.jpg, View from Dam Road Murguma_Dam_7.jpg, View from Dam Road Murguma_Dam_8.jpg, View from Dam Road Murguma_Dam_9.jpg, View from Dam Road Murguma_Dam_10.jpg, View from Dam Road Murguma_Dam_6.jpg, Murguma Village and the Dam side by side Murguma_Dam_11.jpg, View from Dam Road Murguma_Dam_12.jpg, View from Dam Road Murguma_Dam_13.jpg, View from Dam Road Murguma_Dam_14.jpg, View from Sluice Gate Stream_from_Ajodhya_Hill_01.jpg, A stream coming from Ajodhya Hill Stream_from_Ajodhya_Hill_02.jpg, A stream coming from Ajodhya Hill Stream_from_Ajodhya_Hill_03.jpg, A stream coming from Ajodhya Hill

References

{{authority control Dams in West Bengal Year of establishment missing Purulia district Tourist attractions in Purulia district