RAS question
Hirakud Dam, one of the world's longest dams, is on:
Correct answer: (B) Mahanadi in Odisha.
Hirakud Dam is on the Mahanadi river near Sambalpur in Odisha.
Explanation
Hirakud Dam is identified with the Mahanadi, not with the peninsular rivers named in the other options. The Odisha Hydro Power Corporation describes the multi-purpose Hirakud Dam as being constructed across the river Mahanadi for flood control, irrigation and power generation. This also matches the standard RAS fact: the dam is near Sambalpur in Odisha, was India's first major multipurpose river valley project, and has a total length of 25.8 km when the main dam and dykes are taken together. Its long earthen dykes and large reservoir are why it is often asked as both a river-location fact and a multipurpose-project fact.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Krishna in Andhra Pradesh is wrong because the cited project source places Hirakud Dam across the Mahanadi, not the Krishna.
- (C) Godavari in Telangana is wrong because Hirakud is tied to the Mahanadi river system in Odisha, not to the Godavari.
- (D) Cauvery in Karnataka is wrong because the dam's official project description identifies the river as Mahanadi and the project as Hirakud in Odisha.
Concept
This tests the river-project mapping part of Indian geography: major dams, their rivers and their states. RAS repeats such items because multipurpose river valley projects connect physical geography with irrigation, flood control and power generation.