Banasura Sagar Dam in Wayanad

Banasura Sagar Dam, which impounds the Karamanathodu tributary of the Kabini River, is part of the Indian Banasurasagar Project consisting of a dam and a canal project started in 1979. The goal of the project is to support the Kakkayam Hydro electric power project and satisfy the demand for irrigation and drinking water in a region known to have water shortages in seasonal dry periods. The dam is also known as Kuttiyadi Augmentation Main Earthen Dam. The dam has a height of 38.5 metres and length of 685 metres. In the dam’s reservoir there is a set of islands that were formed when the reservoir submerged the surrounding areas. The islands with the Banasura hills are in the background view. It is the largest earth dam in India and the second largest of its kind in Asia. The dam is made up of massive stacks of stones and boulders. The Kuttiyadi Augmentation Scheme consists of a main dam known as Banasurasagar Dam, an earth fill dam and a concrete gravity spillway dam and six saddle dams namely, a Kosani 13.8 m high b Near Kottagiri 11.0 m high c Kottagiri 14.5 m high d Kuttiyadi 16.5 m high e Nayanmoola 3.5 m high f Manjoora 4.0 m high.