Hirakud Dam and Reservoir

Hirakud Dam sits on the Mahanadi river about 15 km upstream from Sambalpur, and at the time of its completion it was the longest earthen dam in the world — 25.8 km from end to end. The reservoir behind it is one of the largest in Asia, stretching roughly 80 km upstream and covering an area of around 750 square kilometres. The dam was the first major irrigation and hydroelectric project of independent India, inaugurated by Nehru in 1957, and it remains a source of both practical importance and civic pride in western Odisha.

For visitors, the main attractions are the two viewpoint towers — Gandhi Minar (the northern tower, 27 metres tall, with a lift) and Nehru Minar (the southern tower) — that stand on the dam's dike and give sweeping views across the reservoir and the town of Sambalpur beyond. Boat trips on the reservoir can be arranged at the ghats below the dam, and birdwatching is excellent in winter when the lake attracts bar-headed geese, spot-billed pelicans, painted storks, and large numbers of migratory ducks. The Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary occupies the forested hills on the reservoir's western shore and is most easily accessed from the Sambalpur side.

Hirakud is 50 km east of Bargarh on NH55, making it an easy half-day excursion. Most visitors combine it with a look around Sambalpur town, which has good Sambalpuri silk shops and an active weaving tradition of its own.

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A story
When Hirakud was completed in 1957, it required the displacement of nearly 110,000 people from 249 villages that were submerged beneath the rising reservoir. Nehru called it "a great enterprise" even as he acknowledged the human cost — the project became a touchstone in Indian debates about large dams and the price of development. On winter mornings, the mist over the reservoir and the silence broken only by birds make it easy to forget that a drowned world lies below the surface.