page_title: Rihand Dam
section_title: Dams and Development
hierarchical_section_title: Rihand Dam / Dams and Development
caption_attribution_description: English: Jawaharlal Nehru at Rihand Dam
context_page_description: Rihand Dam also known as Govind Ballabh Pant Sagar, is the largest dam of India by volume. The reservoir of Rihand Dam is called Govind Ballabh Pant Sagar and is India's largest artificial lake. Rihand Dam is a concrete gravity dam located at Pipri in Sonbhadra District in Uttar Pradesh, India. Its reservoir area is on the border of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. It is located on the Rihand River, a tributary of the Son River. The catchment area of this dam extends over Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh whereas it supplies irrigation water in Bihar located downstream of the river.
context_section_description: As the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru was determined to make India economically self-reliant and self-sufficient in its food production.  Nehru waged an aggressive dam building campaign, drastically expanding infrastructure left by the British Raj, who "had put down 75,000 miles of irrigation canals to water the subcontinent’s most valuable farmland."  Nehru believed dams held the key for growth and the achievement of his economic goals for India.  At the opening of the Bhakra Dam in 1963, he referred to the dam as "the temple of a free India, at which I worship."  The taming of rivers throughout India marked the dawn of a new, independent and most importantly free India that would finally be able to make use of its resources on its terms, enriching its people in the process.  To this day, India continues to build dams throughout to achieve these ambitious economic goals.
caption: Jawaharlal Nehru at inauguration of Rihand Dam
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