| Lal Bahadur Shastri Dam | |
|---|---|
 Almatti Dam with its right bank power house | |
| Official name | Upper Krishna-I (Almatti) |
| Location | Almatti, Nidgundi, Bijapur district, Karnataka |
| Coordinates | 16°19′52″N 75°53′17″E / 16.331°N 75.888°E |
| Construction began | 1963 |
| Opening date | July 2005 |
| Construction cost | ₹ 520 crores |
| Operator(s) | Karnataka Power Corporation Limited |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Impounds | Krishna River |
| Height | 524.26ft |
| Length | 1565.15 ft |
| Reservoir | |
| Total capacity | 123.08 Tmcft at 519 m MSL |
| Catchment area | 33,375 sq. km |
| Surface area | 24,230 hectares |
| Minimum Draw Down Level : 504.75 m MSL | |
The Lal Bahadur Shastri Dam is also known as Almatti Dam is a hydroelectric project on the Krishna River[1] in North Karnataka, India which was completed in July 2005. The target annual electric output of the dam is 560 MU (or GWh).[2]
The Almatti Dam is the main reservoir of the Upper Krishna Irrigation Project; the 290 MW power station is located on the right side of the Almatti Dam. The facility uses vertical Kaplan turbines: five 55MW generators and one 15MW generator. Water is released in to the Narayanpur reservoir after using for power generation to serve the downstream irrigation needs. Two separate facilities namely, Almatti 1 Powerhouse and Almatti II Powerhouse each separated by distance do provide power generation capabilities.
During the initial stages of the project, estimated costs were projected as ₹ 1,470 crores, but following the transfer of project's management to the Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL), the estimated cost was reduced by over fifty percent to ₹ 674 crores. KPCL eventually completed the project at an even lower cost of ₹ 520 crores.[citation needed] The entire dam was finished in less than forty months, with construction ending in July 2005. The dam is located on the edge of Vijayapura and Bagalkote districts. Geographically, it is located in the Vijayapura district,[3] but large areas of Bagalkote district have also been submerged due to filling of the reservoir. The dam holds a gross water storage capacity of 123.08 TMC at 519 meters MSL.[3][4] The backwaters of the dam host several migratory birds during summer.[5]
