Govt seeks progress of dam construction on Somb river

The government has sought the progress of the construction of the proposed Adi Badri dam on the Somb river in Himachal Pradesh from the Haryana and Himachal Pradesh state governments. The dam will revive the ancient Saraswati river. The Jal Shakti Ministry is monitoring the project's implementation. It urged the states to expedite the infrastructure and appurtenant works of the project. In January, the Haryana and Himachal Pradesh governments signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to construct the dam. This revival project will help recharge ground-level water, take in flood waters of the Somb river during monsoon, and help irrigation. Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (HPPCL) is the executing agency for this project. A committee, including Additional Chief Secretary, Irrigation and Water Resources Department of Haryana, Secretary of Jal Shakti Department of Himachal Pradesh, Engineer-in-Chiefs and other representatives of both the states, has been constituted to plan, supervise and monitor the dam construction project. The project will be funded by the Haryana government as per the detailed project report (DPR). Water stored in the Adi Badri dam on the Somb river would be primarily used for reviving the Saraswati river and develop Saraswati Heritages. Some stored water is earmarked for potable purposes and irrigation of the project-affected villages in Himachal Pradesh. According to a Jal Shakti official, the dam will be built on about 32 hectares of land in Himachal Pradesh, with an estimated cost of Rs 251 crore will be spent on this project. The width of the dam will be over 101 m and more than 20 m in height. It can store about 225 hectares metres of water per day. Himachal Pradesh will get about 62 hectares m of water per day, and Haryana will be the beneficiary of the remaining water which will flow into the Saraswati river. Image Source Also read: India to build second-largest dam as China seeks to divert river