Among many of the dams which are serving in India, one is Nizam Dam. The dam is located in Nizamabad district which comes under state, Andhra Pradesh. This reservoir is constructed across the Majira River, which is also known as the subsidiary of Godavari River. This dam is constructed in the villages of Baniapalle and Achampet. The water which is under this reservoir is transferred for drinking purposes in the cities of Secunderabad and Hyderabad. This dam is located at a distance of 144 km from the main city of Hyderabad. Because of this dam, the problem of pure drinking water for these two cities went off.
History
The dam of Nizamsagar was constructed by the rulers of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan in the year of 1923. There were 40 villages those were cleared for the construction of this dam. This dam is among the world’s largest dams as well. It is having historical connection that in early 40s’; Mahatma Gandhi along with Jawahar Lal Nehru visited this dam.
The Dam
The dam of Nizamabad is located in a stretch of 3 kms and having a motor able road on it which is fourteen feet wide. There are various kinds of transport facilities available and tourists may also get good boarding and lodging facilities in that place.
Before the dam was constructed, the connection of Manjira River was not proper and it was difficult for a person to get the water after diverting water to irrigate a land of 5000 acres Mehboob Nagar which is in Medak District. When the construction of Manjira River was going on, Ghanpur Anicut was the first place which was to be facilitated in the year 1904. It was having an estimated cost of Rs.18 lacs. After few years, Superintending Engineer, Nawab Ali Nawaj Jung Bahadur included Fatch Nahar which was also known as left canal to the river so that the utilities of it may be increased. As per the sources, prior to the construction, only 17308 acres land was irrigated but after the construction process was completed, 30000 acres land is getting facility for irrigation. The project of construction of Nizamabad Dam was the second irrigation system that was started on Manira River and it was also the largest construction project that was taken in the year of 1923 and it finished off in the year 1931. It was the biggest project of pre independence. The project was completed originally for utilizing 58.00 TMC water for irrigating a land area of 275000 acres. This land is available in districts like Nizamabad, Banswada, Bodhan, Armoor Taluks which also comes under the Nizamabad district. Since the rearrangement of states took place in 1956, Manjira basin came into conflict among three states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Karnataka.There were different irrigation schemes that were started in three different states. Some of them are listed below:
Singur Project and Manjira Barrage project were started in Andhra Pradesh to facilitate fresh and pure drinking water in the cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad.
Two projects, naming Choukinala and Karanja Projects were started in Karnataka and two projects Manjira and Tiruna Projects were started in Maharashtra. Since the projects of Nizamsagar and Ghanpur Anicut dwindled during the inclination period. The silts at this reservoir were more pacer that those were designed for. There was a survey conducted by the Andhra Pradesh Engineering and Research Laboratories, Hyderabad in the year 1973 which had shown some things that the capacity of the reservoir had been reduced to some level. After this, the remodeling project was done and it has been raised to some level so that the capacity of water can be stored easily in it.
Apart from the fact of above listed treatment, the total of 28085 acres land out of 275000 acres was submerged because of the Sreeramsagar Project. Some part that is 8296 acres came under the facility of Kakatiya and Lakshmi Canal under the Sreeramsagar project. Despite of all these things, 7260 acres of land was not getting any kind of water support from Nizamabad Project and as per the settlement, the land area decreased from the total of 275000 to 231339 acres.
Apart from all the facts that were discussed above, the Nizamabad Project did not only declined the land area only but also delayed the agricultural process that was about to commence as the water supply will get normal. But due to loss in crops and improper arrangement of water supply made the things go in wrong way. In some years, from 1972 to 1995, this problem arisen multiple of times.
Interstate Dispute
As per the entitlement of this project the water use is only 58 TMC. The 75 percent of the dependable water is available under the Godavari Water Dispute Tribunal. Water dependability has been declined to 33 percent. This is because states like Maharashtra and Karnataka used large amount of water in last decade. They used water excess to their potential as it was discussed at the time of the entitlement of GWDT. Through this reason, the big project which was started before independence came on a break as it needs to have water inflows. Apart from this reason, the water which was under this reservoir was contaminated and it was discovered that it was not for consumption not only by humans but also by cattle. The ground water which was available also had high salinity because of which it was also impure. At this time, Central Government interrupted to this event and constituted a fresh tribunal. It was created under the act of Interstate River Water Disputes Act-1956. it was formed to resolve the shortage of water and to improve its quality of water under this reservoir.
Attractions
Pocharam Sanctuary
Pocharam Sancturay is the sanctuary that is having lush green forest in it. it is named after the Pocharam Lake which was dammed to Allair. It happened from the year 1961-22. The place is having good flora and fauna and a person may relax among the natural beauty which is available to this place. Most of the visitors come to this place. There are various trees that attract the people like Bar Headed Goose, Open Billed Stork, Brahminy Bucks.
This is the center for Eco tourism where people can watch species of Deer and Antelopes. The temperature of this place also provide better facilities to the people as in summers, it does not go more than 46 degrees and in winter, it does not less than 6 degrees. Large numbers of wild animals are found in this sanctuary. Best time to visit this place is from November to June.
Saraganpur Temple
There is a temple naming Sarangpur temple which is located very near to the district of Nizamabad. It is located in a town of Alisagar which is 7 kms from the main district. There is a temple of Lord Hanuman is located on the top of the hill. The construction of this temple was done by Ramdas. There is a total of 1400 acres land available with this temple. The development process for Alisagar town is easily possible with the land which is available with this temple. There is a place where gardening is done and it is done on wider scale. There are acres of land available for Sarangpur that may be developed as per the terms of Eco tourismby creating various facilities.
Archaeological and Heritage Museum in Nizamabad is a must visit during your trip to the town because it is one of the best places to learn about our history including the evolution of human from apes. The museum was opened in 2001 and has been divided into three sections – the Archaeological section, the Sculptural gallery and the Bronze gallery. Each section shows in detail how the town has contributed in the history of ancient and modern India. In the Archaeological one can see the tools and equipment that were used by the humans between 50000 and 5000 B.C. there are many tools that are from the Paleolithic, Neolithic as well as the later Stone Age as well. Pottery from the Megalithic Age is also kept in the Archaeological section, and has been dated as belonging to human civilization, which flourished between 1000 B.C and 3rd century B.C. While at the museum, be sure to check out the coin collection from the Medieval period that includes coins from the reign of the Satavahanas, the Kakatiyas, the Qutub Shahis and the Ikshvakus.
