Question

On which river, Salal project is situated?
A. River Sutlej
B. River Chenab
C. River Beas
D. None of these

Answer 1

Hint: The Salal Power project is situated 23 km away from the Reasi, which is surrounded by mountains. The river on which the Salal project is situated flows in India and Pakistan and is considered to be one of the five major rivers in the Punjab region.

Complete Answer: The Salal Project or the Salal Hydroelectric Project is built on river Chenab. The construction work of the dam started in the 1960s. The total capacity of the project is 690 MW which is laid out in two stages, each with 345 MW. The height and length of the rockfill dam are 118 m and 630 m respectively while the height and length of the concrete dam are 113 m and 486.75 m respectively.
The states that benefit from this project are Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Rajasthan and of course Jammu and Kashmir. This dam is important for both the Punjab provinces of India and Pakistan for agricultural purposes. Let us examine the options –
Option A – The Bhakra Dam is constructed on River Sutlej which is a concrete gravity dam in Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh. The height of the dam is 226 m. So, this option is incorrect.
Option B – The Salal Hydropower Project is built on River Chenab, in Udhampur district of Jammu and Kashmir.
Option C – The Beas Dam also known as the Pong dam is built on the river Beas. It is an earth-fill embankment dam whose construction began in 1961 and was completed in 1974 in Himachal Pradesh.
Option D – This option is null and void because the Salal Project is situated on river Chenab, in the Udhampur district of Jammu and Kashmir.
Thus, the correct answer is option (B).

Note: Pakistan at first rejected the idea to construct a dam across the river Chenab in 1974, arguing that it violated the Indus Water Treaty of 1960 which was signed between India and Pakistan. India made some changes in the design of the dam keeping in mind Pakistan’s objection and lowered the height of the dam and closed the diversion canal permanently.