Revival of Mandal Dam Project

• 22 May 2025

Why in News? 

The Jharkhand government has approved the relocation of seven villages situated in the submergence zone of the Mandal Dam in the Palamu Tiger Reserve (PTR). 

Key Points 

• About the Mandal Dam Project: The Mandal Dam is located in the PTR covering parts of Garhwa, Latehar, and Palamu districts in Jharkhand on the North Koel River, a tributary of the Sone River. 
  • The project was originally conceived decades ago but has remained non-functional due to local opposition and lack of consensus on rehabilitation and environmental concerns. 
    • A task force was also set up in 2015 to speed up the clearances. 
  • The project gained momentum when the Prime Minister laid its foundation stone in January 2019. 
  • PTR will benefit from the project as the vacated land will be submerged, forming a large water body that can help reduce the persistent problem of human-animal conflict in the districts. 
• Relocation of Villages: Seven villages, including Kutku, Bhajna, Khura, Khaira, Saneya, Chemo, and Meral, will be relocated. 
  • Each household will get one acre of land and Rs 15 lakh as compensation. 
  • The relocated area will be developed as a model cluster to provide better living conditions for the villagers. 

Palamu Tiger Reserve (PTR)  

• PTR is located on the Chhotanagpur plateau in western Latehar district, Jharkhand.  
  • 'Betla National Park' is situated within 226.32 sq km of the Palamu Tiger Reserve, which is spread over a total area of 1,129.93 sq km.  
• The project area is constituted mainly of Sal forests, mixed deciduous forests and bamboo groves.  
• The reserve zone is the watershed area for 3 important rivers Koel, Burha and Auranga. 
• It was constituted in 1974 under Project Tiger and is one of the first nine tiger reserves established in the country at the inception of the project. 
  • It was the first sanctuary in the world to conduct a tiger census using pugmark counts, done in 1932. 
• The keystone species include Tigers, Elephants, Leopards, Grey Wolf, Gaur, Sloth Bear, Four- horned Antelope, Indian Ratel, Indian Otter and Indian Pangolin.