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The Prakasam Barrage stretches 1223.5 m across the Krishna River connecting Vijayawada and Guntur district districts in Andhra Pradesh, India. The barrage serves also as a road bridge and spans over a lake. The three canals associated with the barrage run through the city of Vijayawada, crossing it and giving it a Venetian appearance. The idea of constructing a dam across the river Krishna dates back to 1798. It began in the hands of captain Buckle and was revised in 1839 and 1841 by Captain Best and Captain Lake. After the endorsement of Arthur Cotton, the board of Directors of the East India Company approved it on 5 January 1850. The dam was started in 1852 and completed in 1855. It cost Rs 1.75 crore in those days and seems to have paid the then government a return of 18%. It used to irrigate 7 lakh acres.
Later, the State Government constructed a bridge that was named after Tanguturi Prakasam, the first Chief Minister of Andhra State (a state formed in 1953, which later became Andhra Pradesh in 1956 after the merger of Telugu speaking districts of former Hyderabad State). Completed in 1957, it helps to irrigate over 1.2 million acres of land. This barrage also supplies water to Buckingham canal which was initially constructed as an inland navigation canal but was later used as an irrigation water supply canal. One of the first major irrigation projects of South India, the Prakasam Barrage in Vijayawada was completely successful in its mission.
Andhra Pradesh largely owes its rich agriculture to the Prakasam Barrage as the project facilitated the irrigation of large tracts of farmland. The Barrage provides views of the lake. It has become a tourist attraction of Vijayawada. On 13th Feb-2019 Andhra Pradesh chief minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu laid foundation to construct a new barrage named Vykuntapuram Barrage on the Krishna River nearly 25 km upstream of Prakasam Barrage. The designed maximum water level is 22.13 m Sea level whereas the full reservoir level is 17.39 m msl with a scope to enhance the live water storage by increasing the gates height by 4.74 m height to enable the back waters reach the toe of the Pulichinthala Dam at 20 m msl for pumping water into the Pulichinthala reservoir. The maximum flood flow experienced at the barrage was 1.11 million cubic feet per second (cusecs) at 20.97 m msl on 5 October 2009. During the severe floods in September 2024, the peak flood flow reached 1.06 million cusecs at the barrage against the designed flow of 1.19 million cusecs.
Godavari-Penna river interlinking project
Srisailam Dam 269.75 M (885 Ft) 252.98 M (830 Ft) 214.88 M (705 Ft) 163 M (535 Ft) 1670 MW Francis turbine 541.9 215.8 178.7 3.42 Nagarjuna Sagar 179.83 M (590 Ft) 166.42 M (546 Ft) 155.45 M (510 Ft) 73.15 M (240 Ft) 816 MW Francis turbine 285 312 181 Nagarjuna Sagar Tail pond 75 M (246 Ft) 48.33 M (158.56 Ft) 50 MW Kaplan turbine Pulichinthala Project 53.34 M (175 Ft) 36.34 M (119.23 Ft) 20 M (65.6 Ft) 120 MW Kaplan turbine 144 45.77 36.23 3.61 Vykuntapuram Barrage 25 M (82 Ft) 17 M (55.77 Ft) 10
See also
Categories: Barrages In India, Buildings And Structures In Vijayawada, Tourist Attractions In Guntur District, Dams Completed In 1855, 1855 Establishments In India, Dams In Andhra Pradesh, Buildings And Structures In Guntur District, Transport In Guntur District, Bridges And Flyovers In Vijayawada, Tourist Attractions In Vijayawada
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