A study on Hydroelectric and Irrigation potential of Dikhow river, Assam

Abstract

Hydropower as a form of renewable resource is very essential in the sustainable development of a country. On the basis of various studies made on Dikhow a perennial river of length of 255.8 km using GIS and Remote sensing an attempt has been made to locate suitable sites for dams for generating power or supplying water for irrigation and other purposes. The river Dikhow originates at Assam-Nagaland border at 26.08°N latitudes and 94.56°E longitudes and flows though the plains of Assam and finally to the mighty Brahmaputra at 26.99°N latitudes and 94.45°E longitudes covering an area of 4128.42 km2. An attempt has been made to create a thematic assessment map to locate suitable sites for dam using remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS). The characteristics of these thematic maps have been derived with the help of different softwares (Arc GIS 10.1, and Global Mapper 11). A database of the catchment area is constructed to decide the locations of the proposed dams. From the three locations(site 1,2 and 3) chosen, site 1 has been considered suitable for irrigation purposes whereas out of the sites 2 and 3 are chosen for Hydropower generation, site 2 has been considered more suitable for the purpose, because of its more reservoir storage, lesser width of the channel and presence of suitable foundation material required for dam construction.