An Engineering Marvel of the Modern Times - Bhakhra Nangal Dam in Punjab State of India

India is a country of farmers. As the monsoon season is not reliable now a days all over the world due to global warming up of the earth, irrigation through dams and canals have become primarily important for the country like India. That is why Indian government has been concentrating on constructing dams at various rivers so as to obtain ample of water for irrigation purposes.

This factor has been given prime importance since the first five year plan in the year 1955 during the rule of Pundit Nehru as the prime minister of India. One of the most vital dams of India is Bhakhra Nangal dam, which is situated in the State of Punjab in Northern India. This dam has become a well known tourists spot due to its immense natural beauty due to the large water reservoir formed and the free fall of water from the height of around 700 feet when the dam overflows in rainy season.

One can reach this dam site by road from Delhi or Amritsar by government buses or by train from Delhi. You have to get down at Nangal station to reach to this dam site. Nangal is a railway station on Delhi-Amritsar line in the Northern railway. I had an opportunity to visit this dam in last February during my visit to India. There is regular shuttle service available for the dam site from Nangal station. The shuttle charges Rs.40 ($1) per person and takes around 45 minutes to reach the dam site. This dam is the tallest dam of the Asia having the height of 700 feet. Earlier it was the tallest dam of the world. The large lake is formed due to construction of this dam on the river Nangal. This lake is named Govind Sagar Lake.

The area of this lake is 165 square kilometers and is 500 feet deep. The beauty of this lake, particularly during rainy season is worth seeing. If you are lucky, you may be able to see this dam overflowing, which is a rare site of its kind. Though, I was not able to see the overflow through this dam, the view of the dam site was really thrilling. One other small dam is also constructed on the River Nangal slightly ahead of the main dam. This dam is 100 feet high and around 900 feet long. There is an inspection gallery built at the height of 500 feet to get the most thrilling view of the entire site. One small restaurant is also located here at this gallery that serves traditional north Indian food delicacies.

There are some hotels available at the town of Nangal that can provide reasonably good and clean rooms at the rate of Rs.400 ($10) per day. One of these hotels is also serving Gujarati food items. The tourists may like to stay for around two days here to enjoy the natural scenery of this area. You can visit this dam site while on your way to Amritsar or Jammu. Most of the tourists travel by hired car or the taxi from Delhi for Jammu and make an overnight stay at this dam. We did stay at this dam site for one night. The beauty of this dam at night is really breathtaking. However, special permission is required to be taken from the Government authorities to visit this dam site at night. There are large hydro-electric turbines sets that generate the electricity from the stored water of the dam. The large area of Punjab State is supplied with electricity generated at this dam site.

One must grab the opportunity to see this most beautiful dam site at least once during life time to enjoy its rare beauty. This dam visit would be the most useful for civil engineers as it is a real engineering marvel of modern times.