HYDROLOGICAL STUDIES FOR THE PROPOSED ERACH

MULTIPURPOSE DAM PROJECT

INTRODUCTION
The proposed Erach Multipurpose Dam project has been conceived to construct a dam
across the river Betwa, a tributary to river Yamuna, located near Jhujharpura village in the
district of Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh. The project envisages storing 62 MCM of water for the
purpose of drinking water supply, irrigation, and power generation. As reported in the report
prepared by Irrigation Department, Govt. of Uttar Pradesh, the Erach dam once constructed
43 km downstream of existing Parichha weir on Betwa river, will create a net storage of
56.25 MCM to provide around 29.89 MCM for drinking water and 9.55 MCM for irrigation
to an area of 1850 ha. The remaining 16.81 MCM of water will be planned for micro-
irrigation. The project also envisages to generate 1.80 MW of power utilizing the minimum
mandatory downstream flow.
The urgency of construction of this dam was felt in view of the recurring droughts in the
region. This dam is situated in the Bundelkhand region which is primarily characterized by
scanty and erratic rainfall affecting the agriculture and livelihood of people. In the region,
over-dependence on the groundwater for agriculture and drinking water due to inadequate
availability of surface water has resulted in lowering of groundwater level. This has further
resulted in drying up of dug wells and masonry wells which are the major sources of drinking
water. But the irony is that the region receives an average rainfall in the range between 750
mm to 1250 mm. Thus, construction of a dam downstream of Parichha weir will not only
cater to the needs of drinking water supply, and irrigation but also provide power in the
region.
In the DPR prepared by the Chief Engineer, Irrigation Department, Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, the
water availability for the envisaged project has been done utilizing G&D data from Mohana
site, situated 70 km downstream of proposed dam site, for the period from 1984 to 2012. It
has been found in the analysis that during monsoon period (15th June to 15th October), the
flows corresponding to 50%, 75%, and 90% dependability are 8464.16, 4804.23, and 1127.87
MCM respectively. Based on this 62 MCM water has been planned for storage in the Erach
dam.
In this regard, the Government of U.P. has planned for the vetting of water availability
analysis as reported in the DPR by State Government and has instructed to investigate the
hydrology for proposed project. Accordingly, a request letter has been received by National
Institute of Hydrology (NIH), Roorkee from Er. Alok Kumar Jain, Superintending Engineer,
Irrigation Department, Mahoba vide letter no. 402/िसं िनमं म/P-1, एरच dated 18/08/2017. This
proposal has been prepared in response to the letter cited above and subsequent discussions
with Er. P. N. Jha, Superintending Engineer, during his visit to NIH and discussions with the
Scientists.

Study Area
The study area covers the Betwa river basin d/s of the Parichha weir up to the Mohana G&D
site established by Central Water Commission (CWC), situated 70 km downstream of the
proposed Erach dam site. The Betwa River originates in the Raisen district of Madhya
Pradesh near Barkhera village south-west of Bhopal. It flows in a north-easterly direction
through Madhya Pradesh and enters into Uttar Pradesh near village Bangawan of Jhansi
district. The total length of the river from its origin to its confluence with the Yamuna River
is 590 km, out of which 232 km lies in Madhya Pradesh and the rest 358 km in Uttar Pradesh.
The river joins the Yamuna near Hamirpur in Uttar Pradesh. The total catchment area of the
basin is 44335 Sq. km, out of which 30238 Sq. km lies in Madhya Pradesh and the remaining
14097 Sq. km lies in Uttar Pradesh. During its course from the source up to the confluence
with the Yamuna, the river is joined by a number of tributaries and sub-tributaries; the
important among them being the Bina, Jamini, Dhasan and Birma on the right bank and
Kaliasot, Halali, Bah, Saga, Narain and Kaithan on the left bank. Out of the 14 principal
tributaries, 11 lie completely in Madhya Pradesh and 3 lie partly in Madhya Pradesh and
partly in Uttar Pradesh. The Halali is the largest tributary of Betwa River having a length of
180.32 km. The schematic diagram of the Betwa river up to the confluence with Dhasan river
is presented in Figure – 1. The line diagram of the Betwa river system is shown in Figure 2.
Betwa covers the areas of Bundelkhand uplands, the Malwa plateau and the Vindhyan scrap
lands in the districts of Tikamgarh, Sagar, Vidisha, Raisen, Bhopal, Guna, Shivpuri and
Chhatarpur of Madhya Pradesh and Hamirpur, Jalaun, Jhansi and Banda districts of Uttar
Pradesh.
Topography
The Upper Betwa sub-basin consists of the Vindhyan ranges running east-west in the upper
reaches with around 500 m or above elevation and the Malwa plateau in the middle and lower
reaches consisting of scrap lands, barren lands and cultivated lands. The lower Betwa sub-
basin consists of Shivpuri plateau at an elevation of about 400 m and the lower reaches of the
basin are mostly plain areas. The upper part of the basin receives about 1100 mm of rainfall
annually whereas in the lower part, the average annual rainfall is between 800 to 900 mm.
Objectives of the Study
1. To estimate the water availability at proposed Erach dam site at 50%, 75%, and 90%
dependability.
2. To check the provision of storage capacity of 62 MCM in the Erach dam.
3. To estimate the design flood for the above proposed site.
4. To estimate the sedimentation rate and revised elevation-area-capacity curve after 50 and
100 years for the project.
5. To estimate average annual evaporation loss from the storage of proposed project.

Water Availability Analysis