Hirakud Displacement Case

Context: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued notices to the Chief Secretaries of Odisha and Chhattisgarh over the action taken to alleviate the sufferings of people displaced by the construction of the Hirakud dam over the Mahanadi river about six decades ago.

Key Issue

• A total of 111 villages were fully submerged, out of which 108 were in Odisha. 
• Apart from the fully submerged villages, 174 villages were partially submerged (141 in Odisha and 33 in Chhattisgarh). According to sources in the government, approximately 18,000 families were displaced.
• Nearly, 26,561 families were displaced for the construction of the Hirakud dam project and due compensation was not paid to evictees. 

About Hirakud Dam 

• It is a multipurpose scheme conceived by Er. M. Visveswaraya in 1937, after recurrence of devastating floods in Mahanadi river at about 15.0 Km. upstream of Sambalpur town in the state of Orissa, India. Its first hydro power was commissioned in 1956.
• Sir Howthrone Lewis, laid the foundation of this dam on 15th March 1946.
• This project was officially inaugurated by the first Prime Minister of independent India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru on 13th January 1957.
• Hirakud Dam is the longest man-made dam in the world, about 16 mi (26 km) in length. Hirakud Dam is a complex construction of earth, concrete and masonry. 
• The Main Dam has, length of 4.8 Km., spans between hills Lamdungri on left and Chandidungri on the right. 
• The Dam is bordered by 21.0 Km long earthen dykes both on left and right sides to close the low saddles beyond the abutment hills. 
• It has the distinction of being the longest dam in Asia, 25.80 Km. long with Dam and Dykes taken together. 
• It has also the rare distinction of forming the biggest artificial lake in Asia with a reservoir spread of 743.0 Kms.at full reservoir level. 
• Hirakud Dam intercepts 83,400 Sq.Km. (32,200 sq.miles) of Mahanadi catchment .The reservoir has a live storage of 4,823 M.Cum(present) with gross storage of 5,896 M.Cum (present).

About Mahanadi River system

• The Mahanadi River system is the third largest of peninsular India after Godavari and Krishna, and the largest river of Odisha state.
• The Mahanadi is a major river in East Central India. 
• It drains an area of around 141,600 square kilometres (54,700 sq mi) and has a total course of 858 kilometres (533 mi).The river flows through the states of Chhattisgarh and Odisha. 
• This river flows slowly for about 900 kilometres (560 mi) and deposits more silt than any other river in the Indian subcontinent.
• The catchment area of the river extends to Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand and Maharashtra.
• Its basin is bounded by the Central India hills on the north, by the Eastern Ghats on the south and east and by the Maikala range on the west.

Source: It rises from a place near Sihawa in Bastar hills in the state of Chhattisgarh to the south of Amarkantak.

• Mahanadi rises from Raipur district of Chhatisgarh and flows for about 851 km before its outfall into the Bay of Bengal.

1. Tributaries from left: Seonath, Mand, Ib, Hasdeo
2. Tributaries from right: Ong, parry river, Jonk, Telen

Mahanadi River Dispute: The Central Government constituted Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal in 2018.