Rihand Dam stands on Renukut-Shaktinagar road at Pipari, about 5 km from Renukut, in Sonbhadra District of Uttar Pradesh.

The dam’s reservoir area is at the border of Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. It lies around 46 km south at the convergence point of River Rihand and its tributary River Son. The reservoir is called Govind Ballab Pant Sagar.

The dam’s catchment area is spread in Uttar Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh. The area is a source of irrigation for Bihar, which starts from the downstream of the River.

Rihand Dam is famous for its scenic beauty and its engineering wonder.

Construction

Construction of Rihand Dam was done during 1954 to 1962. The dam has a height of around 91.44 meters and a length of around 934 meters. This is a straight concrete gravity dam.

Reservoir behind the dam lies in an area of around 450 sq. km. The dam features 61 distinct grounds and joints blocks.

The Power House of the dam is located at the foot of the dam. Its installed capacity is 300 MW. There are six units of 50 MW capacity each. The Intake Structure is located between blocks no. 28 and 33.

Several super thermal power stations lie in the dam’s catchment area. They are Rihand, singrauli, Anpara, Vindyachal, Sasan, and Renukoot thermal station.

Economy

Rihand Dam is the biggest multi-purpose dam of Uttar Pradesh. Power House at the right side of the spillway, downstream of the dam, transmits power through 383 km of 66 km transmission line and 829 km of 132 km transmission line.

The power house is linked with the UP power grid and Obra hydel power station with a capacity of 99 MW. It uses tail-race water of Rihand turbines. The power house is also connected with Obra thermal power station with a capacity of 25 MW and with Kanpur thermal power station with a capacity of 64 MW. The power from here is used in eastern UP, from Bahraich, Kanpur to Ballia.

The power from this station is used by several industries. They are: cement industries in Dala, Churk, and Khajurah; fertilizers industries at Gorakhpur and Allahabad; chemical industries at Shahpuri; aluminum industries at Mirzapur; tyre and tube industries at Naini; and porcelain, chlorine, caustic soda, plastic, paper and board, and electric industries. The power is also used to run tube wells and electric trains in eastern and central UP.

Water collected at the dam’s Govind Ballabh Pant Sagar reservoir goes to River Son canal. This water irrigates around 2.5 lakh hectares of land used for cultivation in districts of Darbhanga, Champaran, and Muzaffarpur in Bihar.

Rihand Dam also helps to control floods, develop fisheries, check soil erosion and afforestation, especially in Rewa area. The dam has become a nice tourist spot. It provides water sports facilities.

Best Time to Visit

Rihand Dam should be visited during rainy season or immediately after. Tourists can come here all year round though.

How to Reach

Tourists can reach Rihand Dam by roadways from Robertsganj via Robertsganj-Renukut-Shaktinagar road.

Renukut is connected by railway and airway to all main cities of India. The nearest airport is Babatpur Airport in Varanasi, which is 181 km from this place.