Large dam-and-reservoir schemes designed to serve several purposes at once, such as irrigation, hydroelectric power, flood control, water supply, navigation, and recreation, called by Nehru the "temples of modern India".
- A single project serves multiple objectives: irrigation, hydropower, flood control, drinking and industrial water supply, inland navigation, fisheries, and tourism.
- Major examples: Bhakra-Nangal on the Sutlej (Punjab-Himachal), Hirakud on the Mahanadi (Odisha, among the longest dams), Damodar Valley Corporation on the Damodar (modelled on the United States TVA), Nagarjuna Sagar on the Krishna, and the Sardar Sarovar on the Narmada.
- Jawaharlal Nehru called such dams the "temples of modern India" for their role in post-independence development.
- Benefits include assured irrigation, clean hydropower, and flood moderation; costs include displacement of people, submergence of forests and farmland, siltation of reservoirs, and effects on river ecology.
- Big dams have drawn protest movements, most notably the Narmada Bachao Andolan against the Sardar Sarovar dam, raising resettlement and human-rights concerns.
The dam-to-river matching, the TVA-inspired DVC, Nehru's "temples" remark, and the displacement and environmental costs (a human-rights dimension) are recurring geography and current-affairs facts.
Match each dam to its river: Bhakra (Sutlej), Hirakud (Mahanadi), Nagarjuna Sagar (Krishna), Sardar Sarovar (Narmada), DVC (Damodar). The DVC, not Bhakra, was the project modelled on the American TVA.
Dams serving irrigation, power, and flood control together ("temples of modern India"); Bhakra-Sutlej, Hirakud-Mahanadi, Sardar Sarovar-Narmada.