Chambal river (996km long)coveringadrain- age area of 88,000 sq km, is a seasonal river famous for soil erosion and ravines. Chambal project is a joint venture of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh state governments. It aims at judicious utilization of the water resources of the river for irrigation, power generation, soil conservation and economic development of the region. The entire project has been completed in three stages.
The first stage involves the construction of a masonry dam at the border of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, a barrage near Kota city with right and left bank main canals for irrigating large areas in both the states. Here a 514 m long and 62 m high dam has been built across the Chambal river about 8 km downsteam of Chaurasigarh fort.
The reservoir, so constructed, covers a total area of 510 square km with a gross storage capacity of 7,746 m. cu. m. Five generators (four of23,000 kw and one of 27,000 kw. capacity) have been installed at Gandhisagar. The Kota barrage, near Kota city, is 552 m long and 39 m high with a gross storage capacity of 99 m cu m. It is an earthen bund and masonry spillway on the left which raises the water level for feeding the irrigation canals which irrigate about 5.6 lakh hectares of land in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
The left main canal is 169 km long and mainly irrigates areas in Rajasthan. After running for about 3.2 km, it splits into two branches. The right main canal is 376 km long and irrigates areas in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
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The second stage consists of the construction of Ranapratap Sagar dam at Rawatbhata in Chittaurgarh district, 56 km downstream of Gandhisagar and 52 km upstream of Kota barrage. It is a 54 m high and 1,143 m long masonry dam with a gross storage capacity of 2,900 m cu m. The Rana Pratap Sagar power station located on the left bank just at the toe of the dam generates 172 kw of electricity with four generating units of 43,000 km each. Canals taken out from this dam irrigate about 1.2 lakh hectares of land in Rajasthan.
The third stage comprises the construction of a 45 m high and 336 m long gravity dam, known as the Jawahar Sagar dam, across the Chambal River 29 km upstream of Kota city. It is a pick-up dam which utilises the released water from two upstream dams for power generation. Its gross storage capacity is of 68 m cu m. Three electricity generating units of 33,000 km each have been installed at this station.
The Chambal project, after completion, would provide irrigation facilities to about 5.15 lakh hectares of agricultural land in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh which will lead to the production of about 5 lakh tonnes of additional foodgrains. It would also generate 3.86 mw of electricity. This power is made available through a network of transmission lines to a number of industries in Kota, Bundi, Bharatpur, Jaipur, Sawai Madhopur, Tonk, Ajmer, Pali, Bhil wara, Sirohi, Banswara, Udaipur and Alwar districts of Rajasthan and Mandsaur, Indore, Ujjain, Gwalior, Neemuch, Morena, Bhind and Ratlam districts of Madhya Pradesh.