Koyna Dam
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India informed about the delay in the grant of Revised Administrative Approval to an incomplete hydroelectric project in Maharashtra.
- The delay resulted in the funds being blocked for more than six years.
- The Water Resources Department (WRD) of the Maharashtra government accorded Administrative Approval for the construction of 2×40 MegaWatt (MW) hydroelectric project at Koyna Dam Foot on the left bank of the Koyna Dam in 2004.
- The Koyna Dam is the largest dam in Maharashtra. The Dam is located in Koyana Nagar, Satara District.
- It is nestled in the Western Ghats on the state highway between Chiplun and Karad. Koyna Dam is a rubble-concrete dam built on the Koyna River which rises in Mahabaleshwar, a hill-station in Sahyadri mountain ranges.
- The work on Koyna dam was initiated in 1951 and the first turbine started working in 1962.
- At present the stage V of Koyna Hydroelectric Power Project is under construction.
- The main purpose of the dam is to provide hydroelectricity with some irrigation facilities in neighboring areas.
- The Koyna dam supplies water to Paschim Maharashtra as well as to the hydroelectric power to neighboring areas.
- The dam plays a vital role in flood control in monsoon season. The catchment area dams the Koyna river and forms the Shivsagar Lake which is approximately 50 km in length.
- Koyna Wildlife Sanctuary covering an area of around 423.55 km2 was notified in 1985.
- In 2007 Koyna Wildlife Sanctuary along with Chandoli National Park was declared as a part of Sahyadri Tiger Reserve declared by The National Tiger Conservation Authority.
- It is one of the largest civil engineering projects commissioned after Indian independence.
- The Koyna hydro-electric project is run by the Maharashtra State Electricity Board.
