Bhadra Dam is situated at the amazing picturesque background of dense forested islands and hilly areas. Bhadra Dam that constructed the Bhadra Reservoir is situated on Bhadra River, a well known tributary of the Tungabhadra River in the Tarikere Taluk, Chikkamagaluru district towards western zone of Karnataka. This dam serves multipurpose including drinking water, industrial usage, hydro power generation and irrigation for about 402,220 acres (162,818 hectares). The dam is better known as Lakkavali Dam, the name after the place called Lakkavali which is about 2 km from the Dam. Bhadra River originate from Western Ghats and flows through the Bhadravati town that is approximately 18 km from Bhadra reservoir. From the Bhadra reservoir, approximately 1 lakh hectares of agricultural land is irrigated per year by farmers of Davangere, Shimoga and Chikmagalur districts. The stored water in reservoir is channeled through left and right bank power houses into their corresponding canal systems. The powerhouse located at the right bank make use of the irrigation release towards generating power from 1 unit of 6MW and 2 units of about 12 MW capacity. The powerhouse at left bank makes use of its irrigation releases in order to produce power from 2 units of about 12 MW capacity individually and 1 unit of 2 MW is generated by another powerhouse located at the left side of the bank canal.

Construction

Sir M V Visvesvaraya designed the structure of Bhadra Dam that was commissioned in the year 1965 in a composite form of earth and masonry structure with the height of 59.13 metres and length of about 1,708 metres at its crest level. The same structure submerges land area of about 27,801.5 acres (11,250.88 hectares). This dam was initially constructed by National Water Management Project (NWMP) for irrigation purpose especially to increase the agricultural wealth of the country. The entire project was developed between 1947 and 1965 with gross storage limit of 2.025 km3.

Attractions

Bhadra River travels through Bhadra Tiger Reserve and Wildlife Sanctuary whereas Bhadra Reservoir is situated on northern region. This sanctuary comprises rich avifauna like hill myna, Malabar Parakeet, great black woodpecker, southern Green Imperial Pigeon, emerald dove, Painted Bush-quail, red spurfowl and Jungle fowl. All this interesting wildlife can be spotted by preferring a boat ride in reservoir. One can also visit Sakkarebaylu Elephant camp and Tyavarekoppa Lion and Tiger Safari at this site. Bhadra Reservoir is also a well known venue for various sports activities including sport fishing, water-trampoline, water-cycling, kayaking and sailing.

How to Reach

By Road

Bhadra Dam is situated at a distance of about 244 km from the city of Bangalore. It is about 40 km from Kemmanagundi, approximately 20 km from Tarikere, 70 km from the city of Chikmagalur and 30 km from Shimoga. From Lakkavali, the dam is just 2 km apart.

By Train

The nearest railway station is at Tarikere which is about 20 km apart from Bhadra Dam. Bhadravati is also located near to the Bhadra Dam.