Page 81 - Sonbeel Utsab 2024

Sonbeel : Hydro power generation
perspective

Nandita Dutta, Siddhartha Shankar Nath and Karabi Dutta Choudhury

INTRODUCTION

Sonbeel is the 2nd largest fresh water lake in Asia. Every year, the whole beel
becomes full of water during rainy season and in winter the beel dries up. Sonbeel is
connected to two major rivers of the valley namely Singhla and kochua. Shingla
River is the only major inlet which is originated in Mizoram and finishes its course at
the Southern end of Son beel. The outlet is Kachua River which originates from
Northern part of the beel and touches Ratakandi, an another beel on the Northern part
of the beel, connected to Kushiara River flowing along with Northern boundary of
Karimganj district. Son beel is a natural basin situated between Singla and Kachua
River. During dry season, water flows in the rivers are very lean and during the
rainy season the flows are very high. Water is one of most valuable resources, and
hydropower may make use of this renewable treasure. Here in this paper, an attempt
has been made to explain Hydropower generation by using the water content of
Sonbeel

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The study area (24 30‟-24 45”N) latitude and (92 15‟- 92 30‟E) Longitude which
is the largest oxbow lake (Wetland) of Asia. Sonbeel is the largest freshwater lake in
the state of Assam. Sonbeel falls under BarakValley climatic zone which is tropical,
warm and humid. Sonbeel which is located in the northern half of Karimganj
district thus falls under rain fall zone (300-400) mm .Son beel is said to cover an
area of approximately 30,000 bighas of land having length 12.7 km and average
breadth 3.5 km. Almost 50,000 people's livelihood is directly or indirectly related to
the production of the Sonbeel. Major production of the beel is the fish which is one
of the main sources of fishes in Southern Assam. In addition to that the beel
produces large amount “Buro” rice. [3]. Hydro power is a very clean source of
energy, which does not consume but only use the water and again make it available
for other uses.[1-2]. In Sonbeel uninterrupted and regular electric power supply is
not available due to which people suffer throughout the year and as a result there is
no development in industrialization, agriculture etc. However if hydro power
generation be possible in this region, it can significantly contribute to rural
electrification, industrialization, agriculture along with multiple co-benefits
including water storage for drinking and irrigation, drought-preparedness, flood
control protection, aquaculture and recreational opportunities.

MECHANISM OF HYDROPOWER GENERATION
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