Sukhi Dam 3.5

Sukhi dam is constructed over Sukhi River in the district chhota udepur in Gujarat state of India. This dam was constructed in the village Sagadhra to manage the water of river Sukhi for irrigation purpose.Geographical coordinates of this dam are between 22. 26’ 00” N and Longitude 73. 53’ 00” E.This dam is located at 41 kilometers from district headquarters.

History

Sukhi River is a small tributary to River Narmada and the area surround Sukhi was flood affected before construction of this dam.The land around the area was fertile and a sufficient production of cotton was also being done there but according to the fertility of the area, production was not done only because of the low level of irrigation. Water management of the river Sukhi was not correctly maintained.Small minors/canals have been made by personal efforts to fetch the river water to the field.But a proper irrigation system was not there.Seeing the above mentioned situation, dam was planned and designed over the Sukhi River in 1977.This project was assisted by World Bank and all financial needs have been catered for between 1978 to1994 but delayed construction, due to some political interference led to away the World Bank support. After long efforts, the dam was completed in the year 2000 and dedicated to nation.

Technical Portion

Sukhi Dam is well designed water reservoir.Height of the dam is 25.80mtrs and length is 2520mtrs.Height of the dam is including the foundation level.More than 23’ thick wall is constructed in this dam as support for water reservoir.Gross water storage capacity of the reservoir of this dam is 178.47 tmc.This is one of the biggest earthen dams in Gujarat state.Total 10 spillways have been provisioned there with the size of each gate 12.59 x 8.23 mtrs to ensure smooth and faster regulation of water. On the both banks of the dam, two canals of the more than 35 kilometers length have been initiated to provide sufficient water for irrigation in nearby areas.20701 hectare land of the Gujarat is being irrigated from this dam.At the time of approval of this dam, the estimated cost was assessed as Rs. 23.11 crore. But the cost on completion reached at Rs.144.88 crore as market variation from that period enhanced more than 20 times.Gross command area of this dam is 31.532 ha and Ultimate Irrigation potential area is 21.246 th ha. This dam was targeted to be completed in 1987 but due to some political reasons, the completion delayed a lot and finally the dam was completed in 2000 in all respects.25.26 Th ha potential was created at the time of construction of the dam and same was achieved and utilized too.