- Kaptai Dam
Kaptai Dam ( _bn. কাপ্তাই বাঁধ) is located on the
Karnaphuli River atKaptai , 65 km upstream fromChittagong inRangamati District ,Bangladesh . It is an earthfillembankment dam with a reservoir (known asKaptai Lake ) water storage capacity of 11,000 km². The primary purpose of the construction of the dam and reservoir was to generatehydroelectric power. Construction was completed in 1962.cite web
url=http://www.boi-mela.com/Banglapedia/ViewArticle.asp?TopicRef=1465
title=Dam - Kaptai Dam
publisher=
accessdate=2007-02-01] [cite web
url=http://en.structurae.de/structures/data/index.cfm?ID=s0024690
title=Kaptai Dam Structure
publisher=
accessdate=2007-02-01]Description
The earthen dam is 670 meters long and 45.7 meters wide with a 16-gated spillway on the left side of the main dam. The catchment area of the reservoir is 11,000 km². The dam has provided significant flood control as well as power generation.The construction of the dam submerged 655 km² area. This included 220 km² of cultivable land, 40 percent of the cultivable land in the area, and displaced 18,000 families and 100,000 tribal people, of which 70% were
Chakma . The dam also flooded the originalRangamati town and other structures.cite web
url=http://www.internal-displacement.org/idmc/website/countries.nsf/(httpEnvelopes)/C2EA848CB001371D802570B8005A719E?OpenDocument
title=The construction of the Kaptai dam uproots the indigenous population (1957-1963)
publisher=
accessdate=2007-02-01]Disadvantages
Local inhabitants living in the storage reservoir area who lost their homes and farmland due to flooding were not compensated. More than 40,000 Chakma tribals emigrated to
India . The scarcity of land is consider a main cause of the continuing conflict in the area today.The building of the dam and reservoir also caused destruction of wilderness and loss of wildlife and wildlife habitats.
Notes
External links
* [http://www.dams.org/kbase/submissions/showsub.php?rec=soc032 Dams Caused Environmental Refugees of Ethnic Minorities]
* [http://www.worldlakes.org/lakedetails.asp?lakeid=10756 Profile]
* [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/buildingbig/dam/emb_forces.html Embankment Dams]
* [http://www.updfcht.org/jum.html Jum Cultivation and Environmental Degradation in CHT]
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