Performance analysis of the proposed Reservoir Project in the State of West Bengal

Abstract. Water is an essential and integral part of livelihood but it is becoming scarce and contaminated day by day. Moreover, due to huge population growth the demand for water is rising especially in agricultural, industries and for municipal uses. So, to meet the rising water demand, reservoirs are constructed in different parts of the country to store water during monsoon and supply it throughout the year according to the demand. The reservoir is also constructed for controlling the peak of high flood which is quite common in many places. The Dwarakeswar River in the district of Bankura in the State of West Bengal has only seasonal flow of water. In order to meet the agricultural and municipal water requirement throughout the year and also for controlling the flood, it has been proposed to construct a reservoir at Suknibasa on the river near Bankura Town. The analysis of the performance of this reservoir for meeting various demands (under historical as well as projected scenario) as well as its capability for moderating flood has been reported in the present paper. The projected scenario involves the modeling of streamflow for future time frame using the Thomas-Fiering method and the flood moderation analysis involves the estimation of design flood hydrograph for the river at Suknibasa. The study reveals that the Suknibasa reservoir is capable of meeting all demands and moderating flood for which it has been proposed to be constructed.