The Prakasam Barrage is a tidal barrage across the Krishna River connecting Vijayawada and Guntur districts in Andhra Pradesh, India. The barrage serves also as a road bridge that spans a lake, formed by the barrage wall. The three canals associated with the barrage run through the city of Vijayawada, crossing it and giving it a Venetian appearance.
Overview
The idea of constructing a dam across the river Krishna dates from 1798. It began in the hands of Captain Buckle and was revised in 1839 and 1841 by Captain Best and Captain Lake. After the approval of Major Cotton, the board of Directors of the East India Company approved it on 5 January 1850. The dam was begun in 1852 and completed in 1855. It cost Rs 1.75 crore in those days and seems to have paid the then government a return of 18%. It used to irrigate 7 lakh acres.
Later, the State Government constructed a bridge that was named after Tanguturi Prakasam, the first Chief Minister of Andhra (a state formed in 1953, which later became Andhra Pradesh in 1956 after the merger of Telugu speaking districts of former Hyderabad State). Completed in 1957, it helps to irrigate over 1.2 million acres of land. This barrage also supplies water to Buckingham canal which was initially constructed as an inland navigation canal but was later used as an irrigation water supply canal. One of the first major irrigation projects of South India, the Prakasam Barrage in Vijayawada was completely successful in its mission.
Andhra Pradesh largely owes its rich agriculture to the Prakasam Barrage as the project facilitated the irrigation of large tracts of farmland. The Barrage provides views of the lake. It has become a tourist attraction of Vijayawada.
On 13 February 2019, Andhra Pradesh chief minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu laid a foundation stone to construct a new barrage named Vykuntapuram Barrage on the Krishna River nearly upstream of Prakasam Barrage.
Specifications The designed maximum water level is msl whereas the full reservoir level is msl with a scope to enhance the live water storage by increasing the gates height by height to enable the back waters reach the toe of the Pulichinthala Dam at msl for pumping water into the Pulichinthala reservoir.
The maximum flood flow experienced at the barrage was at msl on 5 October 2009. During the severe floods in September 2024, the peak flood flow reached at the barrage against the designed flow of .
Godavari-Penna river interlinking project
Project NameFRLCreast LevelMDDLTail Race LevelPower GenerationReservoir area In km2Storage capacity In TMCCapacityType of TurbinesGrossLiveDeadSrisailam Project269.75 M (885 Ft)252.98 M (830 Ft)214.88 M (705 Ft)163 M (535 Ft)1670 MWFrancis Turbines541.9215.8178.73.42Nagarjuna Sagar179.83 M (590 Ft)166.42 M (546 Ft)155.45 M (510 Ft)73.15 M (240 Ft)816 MWFrancis Turbines285312181Nagarjuna Sagar Tail pond75 M (246 Ft)48.33 M (158.56 Ft)50 MWKaplan TurbinesPulichinthala Project53.34 M (175 Ft)36.34 M (119.23 Ft)20 M (65.6 Ft)120 MWKaplan Turbines14445.7736.233.61Vykuntapuram Barrage25 M (82 Ft) 17 M (55.77 Ft)10
Gallery
See also
List of dams and reservoirs in India List of tidal barrages
References