India's Mega Projects: How Hirakud Dam Became The World's Longest Dam?

The Hirakud Dam, built across the Mahanadi River, is the longest in the world, with a length of 4.8 km. It was one of the first initial projects that an independent India undertook. The first Prime Minister of the country, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, put the first piece of concrete of the dam on April 12, 1948. For adequate supervision, Mazumdar Committee was appointed to check the technical soundness and the feasibility of the project, which cost more than US$ 1 Billion in ancient times. Initially, the Committee had pegged the cost at nearly ₹94 crores and predicted the dam's completion by June 1955.[Readmore]