International Journal of Engineering Technology Science and Research

IJETSR
www.ijetsr.com
ISSN 2394 3386
Volume 4, Issue 3
March 2017

Area Submergence of Tipaimukh Dam, India

Konthoujam James Singh
Civil Engineering Department, NERIST, Nirjuli, Arunachal Pradesh

ABSTRACT
The proposed Tipaimukh Dam on the River Barak has been a subject of socio-economic and environmental
concerns with its height of 162.8 m and length 390 m. When impounding water at the maximum reservoir level
of 178 m, it may lead to submergence of its upstream at larger scale. This study highlights the extent of water
surface in the reservoir at different dam heights. To achieve the study objective Advanced Spaceborne Thermal
Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) Digital Elevation Model (DEM) 30 m resolution has been used
with inputs from Google Earth Pro. Geographical Information System (GIS) software ArcGIS has been used in
processing the DEM to extract information to estimate the areal extent of impounding water at different levels
and corresponding volume of water in the reservoir. The areal extent of water surface at maximum water level
is estimated to be 364.877220 km2, the submerged surface as 383.527762 km2 and the volume of water
impounded as 37404.680903 M m3.
Keywords: Tipaimukh Dam, reservoir capacity, GIS, DEM, submerged land

Introduction
Dams are constructed to create reservoirs to
impound water, mainly for flood control,
irrigation and water supply, and power
generation. The water impounded may be
intended for a single purpose or multipurpose
utilization. In order to content the intended
purpose, the reservoirs must have sufficient
capacity to impound adequate water. Many a
times, the dam heights are extensively
exaggerated to harness a larger reservoir
capacity (Anon. 2002). The impacts of
constructing large dams on both upstream and
downstream riparian area can be multifold
(Kellogg and Zhou, 2014). Besides positive
impacts, there are also negative impacts
associated with large dams. Among the
negative impacts, mention may be of the
submergence of upstream land which is a
threat to forest resources and demography,
resulting from the additional increase in dam
height (Anon. 2002). Many researchers have
done works on social and economic impacts of
dams. Possibility of submergence of a large
extent of forest in Manipur, comprising 10
million trees and 2700
bamboo columns is reported if the Tipaimukh
dam in Manipur, India is constructed (Kurmi
and Gupta, 2016). Further, Environmental
Impact Assessment (EIA) on socio-economic
aspects of Tipaimukh dam has been carried out
in downstream Bangladesh (Asaduzzaman and
Rahman, 2015; Sikder and Elahi, 2013). Apart
from social and economic aspects, studies on
hydrologic and land use land cover (LULC)
inundation aspects of dams also exist in
literature. With the development and
availability of digital spatial data and
Geographical Information System (GIS)
software, reservoir capacity and extent of
surface water in reservoir has been studied
expediently (Wang and Wade, 2002; Kellogg
and Zhou, 2014).
Wang and Wade (2000) used DEM with GIS
tools in estimating the total volume of the
reservoir. Accordingly, all cells within the
Area of Interest (AOI) where the DEM
elevation was less than or equal to a given
reservoir water surface height were extracted
and summed the area of these extracted cells
to obtain the total area of the reservoir
computed for that given water surface height;
for each cell within the reservoir a height
difference between the DEM value (or the
bottom of the reservoir) and surface water
height was multiplied by the cell size to
compute the volume in that cell location.
Bharali B. (2015) estimated the reservoir
storage capacity, using Residual Mass Curve
method, for the proposed Dibang
Multipurpose Dam in the Dibang River Basin,
Arunachal Pradesh, India using the flow data
of the Dibang River.

266 Konthoujam James Singh

 International Journal of Engineering Technology Science and Research
Ouma (2016) used multiresolution Real-Time
Kinematic Global Positioning System (RTK-
GPS) DEM, in comparison with ASTER and
contour-derived DEM in simulating storage
volume in a proposed reservoir by developing
an empirical relationship.
Fuska et al., (2017) performed an assessment
of the historic data of an artificial reservoir
using a python script based on the concept that
the water volume in a reservoir can be
calculated as the sum of partial volumes
calculated between two contours with the use
of the prismatic method as the multiplication
of the difference in contour elevation and
average area of the contours (i.e. bottom and
top contours of the examined partial water
volume).
Study Area and Objectives
The present study is focused on the proposed
Tipaimukh Dam of India. The proposed
Tipaimukh Dam is a rock-filled earthen dam to
be constructed on the River Barak at 500 m
downstream of the confluence of the River
Barak and River Tuivai, near Tipaimukh
village in Manipur, India (Khan et al., 2005).
The proposed dam will be located at 241'N
and 931'E, with dam height of 162.8 m and
length of 390 m (Asaduzzaman and Rahman,
2015). The Indian state Manipur comes under
the zone-V of the earthquake zoning map of
India (IS 1893, Part 1, 2002, Reaffirmed
2007). The location of Tipaimukh Dam is
shown in Figure 1. Initially, the dam was
proposed in 1984 to contain the flood water
entered in the Cachar Plains of Assam state of
India (Islam and Islam, 2016; Sikder and
Elahi, 2013) of Barak. The Tipaimukh
Multipurpose Hydroelectric Project (TMHP)
was initiated by North Eastern Electric Power
Corporation Limited (NEEPCO) (Khan et al,
2005). However, later on, TMHP became a
joint venture after Indian Government
unilaterally signed an agreement with the
National Hydroelectric Power Corporation
Limited, India (NHPC), and Satluj Jal Vidyut
Nigam Limited, India (SJVNL) and the
Manipur State government On October 22,
2011(Asaduzzaman and Rahman, 2015).
267 Konthoujam James Singh
IJETSR
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ISSN 2394 3386
Volume 4, Issue 3
March 2017
Figure 1: Location of Tipaimukh Dam,
India (Source: Khan et al., 2005)
Although the Tipaimukh Dam Project aims in
meeting the ever increasing demand of energy
in the form of hydroelectric power and
regulation of flood water of River Barak, it has
faced immense public discontents leading to
wider mass movements in India and
Bangladesh (Islam and Islam, 2016). It is
being appealed from local and indigenous
people of Manipur and Mizoram state of India,
and experts in different fields from India and
Bangladesh that the Tipaimukh Dam Project
would result in a massive socio-economic,
ecological and environmental disaster at both
riparian of upstream and downstream of the
dam (Islam and Islam, 2016; Asaduzzaman
and Rahman, 2015; Khan et al., 2005). Arora
and Kipgen (2012) have pointed out the main
objections of the people from both Bangladesh
and India to the TMHP, which have grouped
under six different categories:
i. Location in a geologically unstable
region;
ii. Loss of biodiversity with submergence
of land;
iii. Economic feasibility studies and cost-
benefit analysis;
iv. Administrative lapses, procedural and
human rights violations;
v. Social and cultural objections; and
vi. Objections by Bangladesh
Khan et al. (2005) studied the hydrological
impacts of Tipaimukh Dam in downstream of
Bangladesh hydrological changes that will
occur in the Surma-Kushiyara river system of
 International Journal of Engineering Technology Science and Research
northeast region of Bangladesh after the
Tipaimukh Dam on the Barak River comes
into operation only with limited data and
information, and a rather simple relation to
estimate the inflow of the dam, and also
further emphasized to investigate on the
upstream riparian of the dam.
However, no literature could be found that
explicitly studies the upstream riparian of the
Tipaimukh Dam. Further, literature on the
water surface extent in the proposed
Tipaimukh Dam Reservoir and land
submergence at different heights could not be
traced. This fact has encouraged taking up this
study. The present study aims in determining
the areal extent of water surface in the
proposed Tipaimukh Dam Reservoir at
different dam heights and the corresponding
submerged land area. The study also estimates
the reservoir capacity or the volume of water
impounded at different dam heights.
Materials and Method
To accomplish the objective of this study, the
freely available Advanced Spaceborne
Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer
(ASTER) Digital Elevation Model (DEM) 30
m resolution has been downloaded from
https://gdex.cr.usgs.gov/gdex/. It has been
used for delineating Tipaimukh Dam
Catchment and for further analysis. For a
given water surface height, the areal extent
may be obtained by summing up the areas of
individual cells in the DEM raster within the
area of interest. For each cell within the
reservoir, a height difference between the
DEM value (or the bottom of the reservoir)
and surface water height was multiplied by the
cell size to compute the volume in that cell
location. Adding all these individual volume,
the total volume of the reservoir water up-to
the specific water surface level may be
obtained. To obtain the areal extent and the
reservoir capacity or volume of water, the 3D
Analyst Tools in ArcGIS is used.
The information on river values that the
ASTER DEM provided is the height of water
surface in the river and not the river bed
elevation. Therefore, the water surface
elevation which is 53 m from mean sea level
(MSL) at the site of the proposed Tipaimukh
268 Konthoujam James Singh
IJETSR
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ISSN 2394 3386
Volume 4, Issue 3
March 2017
Dam is assumed as the base level for the
present analysis. Assuming the depth of water
of the Tipaimukh River to be 4 m, the dam
height 162.8 m has been added to 49 m, from
MSL, to obtain the highest or the maximum
water surface in the reservoir which is 211.8 m
from MSL. However, the maximum water
surface has been taken at 212 m from MSL for
ease in calculation. With 53 m as the base
level, the areal extent of water surface in the
proposed Tipaimukh Dam Reservoir, the
corresponding submerged land area and
volume of water impounded within the
reservoir is estimated for 1 m increment in
dam height. Since, detail information could
not obtain on the proposed dam, the vertical
zonation of reservoir storage, i.e., dead
storage, live storage and free board has not
considered separately, instead the gross
storage has been considered while calculating
the volume. Also, the upstream side of the
dam wall is assumed to be vertical. With these
assumptions, the analysis has been carried out.
Results
Using the coordinates of Tipaimukh Dam
241'N and 931'E as outlet, the catchment
area of the dam is determined, which is shown
in Figure 2.
Figure 2: Tipaimukh Dam Catchment
The catchment area of Tipaimukh Dam is
found to be 12976.42 km2 while the elevation
of the catchment varies from 53 m at the outlet
to 3012 m from mean sea level, and is of 6
order catchment. Starting from 54 m, the
 International Journal of Engineering Technology Science and Research
IJETSR
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ISSN 2394 3386
Volume 4, Issue 3
March 2017

estimated areal extent of water surface, the

corresponding submerged land area and
volume of water impounded within the
reservoir is tabulated in Table 1. The areal
surface extent at 53 m from MSL is
highlighted in Figure 3. It is observed that the
areal water surface extent changes
significantly from 15.863306 km2 at 107 m,
from MSL, to 48.538061 km2 at 108 m, from
MSL, which are further highlighted in Figure
4 and Figure 5 respectively. The maximum
areal extent of water surface is estimated to be
364.877220 km2 corresponding to water
surface elevation 212 m from MSL. Figure 5: Areal Water Surface Extent at 108 m
from MSL

Figure 6: Area-Elevation and Capacity-

Figure 3: Areal Surface Extent at 53 m Elevation curve of Tipamukh Dam Reservoir
from MSL
Conclusion
The estimated water surface extent, land Reservoir capacity and areal water surface
submerged and volume impounded are plotted extent is of crucial importance in reservoir
which are shown in Figure 6. The maximum design and management. In the present paper,
submerged land area and maximum volume of the areal water surface extent, land
water impounded within the reservoir are submergence and volume of water impounded
estimated as 383.527762 km2 and within the reservoir have been estimated using
3
37404.680903 M m , corresponding to 212 m ASTER DEM in a GIS environment. The
from MSL. maximum submerged land area is found to be
about 2.96 % of the total catchment area. The
study made certain assumptions during the
analysis which needs further field survey for
better justification. This paper also highlights
the means of estimating reservoir parameters-
areal water surface, land submergence and
volume of water impounded within the
reservoir with the only available freely
available data.
Acknowledgement
The author wishes to thank Dr. Th. Somchand
Singh, MIT, Manipur, Dr. Salam Dilip,
Figure 4: Areal Water Surface Extent at 107 m NERIST and P.T. Sharma, CAU Imphal for
from MSL their valuable inputs.

269 Konthoujam James Singh

 International Journal of Engineering Technology Science and Research
References
Anonymous 2002. FFM to Sardar Sarovar and Man
Dam Projects.
Arora, V. and Kipgen, N. 2012. We Can Live
Without Power, but We Cant Live Without
Our Land: Indigenous Hmar Oppose The
Tipaimukh Dam in Manipur. Sociological
Bulletin. 61(1): 109128.
Asaduzzaman, M., Rahman, M.M. 2015. Impacts
of Tipaimukh Dam on the Down-stream
Region in Bangladesh: A Study on Probable
EIA. Journal of Science Foundation. 13(1)
Bharali B. 2015. Estimation of Reservoir Storage
Capacity by using Residual Mass Curve,
Journal of Civil Engineering and
Environmental Technology, 2(10): 15-18.
Fuska J., Kubinsk D., Lackov L. and Weis K.
2015. Vindachta Water Reservoir Using
GIS Tools for a Comparison of Storage
Capacity in 1887 and 2014. Kartografija I
Geoinformacije: 14(24).
Islam M.S., Islam N.M. 2016. Environmentalism of
the poor: the Tipaimukh Dam, ecological
disasters and environmental resistance
beyond borders. J. of Global South. 3(27):1-
16.
Kellogg, C.H., Zhou, X. 2014. Impact of The
Construction of a Large Dam on Riparian
Vegetation Cover at Different Elevation
Zones as Observed From Remotely Sensed
Data. International Journal of Applied Earth
Observation and Geoinformation. 32:1934
270 Konthoujam James Singh
IJETSR
www.ijetsr.com
ISSN 2394 3386
Volume 4, Issue 3
March 2017
Khan, A.S., Masud, M.S., Palash, W. 2005.
Hydrological Impact Study of Tipaimukh
Dam of India on Bangladesh. Institute of
Water Modelling (IWM) Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Kurmi, P., Gupta, R. 2016. Paucity of Energy in
Barak Valley: A Review of Tipaimukh
Hydroelectric Project and an Alternative
Scheme for Development. International
Research Journal of Social Sciences. 5(2):
52-55.
Ouma, Y.O. 2016. Evaluation of Multiresolution
Digital Elevation Model (DEM) from Real-
Time Kinematic GPS and Ancillary Data for
Reservoir Storage Capacity Estimation.
Hydrology. 3(16):1-27.
Sikder M.T., Elahi, K.M. 2013. Environmental
Degradation and Global Warming-
Consequences of Himalayan Mega Dams: A
Review. American Journal of Environmental
Protection. 2(1): 1-9.
Wang, Y., Wade, S. 2000. Using Digital Spatial
Data Sets to Study the Impact of Reservoir
Construction on Local Environment and
Community. The North Carolina Geograper.
9:1-12.
 International Journal of Engineering Technology Science and Research
IJETSR
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Volume 4, Issue 3
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Table 1: Estimated Areal Extent of Water Surface, Submerged Land Area and Volume of
Water Impounded within the Tipaimukh Reservoir

Areal
Elevation: Areal Water Land Water Elevation: Water Land Water
Sl. Sl.
From 53 Surface Submerged Volume From 53 Surface Submerged Volume
No. No.
to (m) Extent (km2) (km2) (M m3) to (m) Extent (km2) (M m3)
(km2)
1 54 1.531684 1.531697 0.237698 21 77 6.988365 7.073882 64.271593

2 55 1.625263 1.625322 0.272790 22 78 7.307944 7.403560 70.397889

3 56 1.668521 1.668722 0.340105 23 79 7.420061 7.522810 72.521500

4 57 2.097569 2.098074 1.843097 24 80 7.793492 7.909580 80.101572
5 58 2.169960 2.170841 1.995824 25 81 7.972704 8.101860 83.443690
6 59 2.764094 2.765655 3.964282 26 82 8.133376 8.271812 86.848708
7 60 2.863852 2.866198 4.263556 27 83 8.189876 8.334410 88.663996
8 61 2.968025 2.971883 4.644270 28 84 9.507037 9.671163 125.164431

9 62 3.057189 3.062309 5.175504 29 85 9.770115 9.949251 132.046417

10 63 3.104861 3.111281 5.452046 30 86 9.968749 10.161719 136.931033

11 64 3.239049 3.247776 6.045960 31 87 10.136484 10.343550 141.645928

12 65 3.338807 3.350020 6.512748 32 88 10.360719 10.583492 147.515325
13 66 3.382948 3.396249 6.845128 33 89 10.697954 10.945985 156.151685

14 67 3.494182 3.510954 7.533724 34 90 10.903650 11.167427 161.881597

15 68 4.430849 4.452676 20.628742 35 91 11.082862 11.367406 166.796449
16 69 4.532373 4.558293 21.671347 36 92 11.270901 11.573526 172.394601

17 70 4.640077 4.670572 22.528119 37 93 11.280612 11.579716 174.395281

18 71 4.888148 4.921642 26.904896 38 94 11.767926 12.109409 187.486326

19 72 5.116797 5.158892 29.124514 39 95 12.088388 12.466489 196.770452

20 73 5.053234 5.097228 29.063379 40 96 12.241998 12.636863 201.948825
21 74 5.426665 5.479564 34.356518 41 97 12.595124 13.017440 214.344874

22 75 6.507231 6.566462 57.484289 42 98 12.746085 13.186597 220.565190

23 76 6.686442 6.754542 60.168930 43 99 13.034766 13.485454 233.609225

271 Konthoujam James Singh

 International Journal of Engineering Technology Science and Research
IJETSR
www.ijetsr.com
ISSN 2394 3386
Volume 4, Issue 3
March 2017

Table 1(contd.): Estimated Areal Extent of Water Surface, Submerged Land Area and
Volume of Water Impounded within the Tipaimukh Reservoir

Areal
Elevation: Areal Water Land Water Elevation: Water Land Water
Sl. Sl.
From 53 Surface Submerged Volume From 53 Surface Submerged Volume
No. No.
to (m) Extent (km2) (km2) (M m3) to (m) Extent (km2) (M m3)
(km2)
44 100 13.516783 14.017295 249.280519 66 122 76.028925 77.574307 3668.144032

45 101 13.759557 14.287949 258.224761 67 123 77.479390 79.081730 3763.038937

46 102 13.934355 14.483746 265.555437 68 124 78.932504 80.611398 3856.530829

47 103 14.157707 14.731361 274.467015 69 125 81.186331 82.952766 4006.613160

48 104 14.676802 15.270755 298.971536 70 126 82.650922 84.500923 4103.140170

49 105 15.073186 15.715033 313.724261 71 127 84.118160 86.046940 4202.260450

50 106 15.347742 16.014720 325.154510 72 128 84.955952 86.933244 4262.662885

51 107 15.863306 16.571555 348.947924 73 129 88.374212 90.387822 4513.923779

52 108 48.538061 49.227194 2081.504471 74 130 90.814313 92.970266 4677.521789

53 109 51.907766 52.695798 2255.505796 75 131 92.451936 94.707570 4792.344261

54 110 53.136645 53.944167 2322.784036 76 132 93.394782 95.695433 4865.077416

55 111 54.586227 55.438117 2400.087305 77 133 95.318436 97.743462 5000.964961

56 112 56.045521 56.879761 2481.737997 78 134 96.905738 99.437383 5116.539813

57 113 60.019072 60.976243 2701.005890 79 135 98.449782 101.090411 5230.665964

58 114 61.620499 62.632416 2790.369518 80 136 100.578249 103.393158 5384.409550

59 115 62.998573 64.062151 2868.583190 81 137 101.382494 104.213597 5453.025476

60 116 64.686516 65.811240 2966.314801 82 138 103.132234 106.080857 5588.372297

61 117 66.197013 67.389130 3053.883886 83 139 105.278357 108.351237 5758.430969

62 118 67.355266 68.585386 3124.353724 84 140 106.362454 109.509249 5847.204435

63 119 68.857817 70.151180 3214.741638 85 141 108.582734 111.873271 6022.909151

64 120 70.271205 71.637775 3300.314236 86 142 112.723137 116.132141 6373.074477

65 121 71.854092 73.307857 3396.234974 87 143 113.818711 117.301756 6464.976198

272 Konthoujam James Singh

 International Journal of Engineering Technology Science and Research
IJETSR
www.ijetsr.com
ISSN 2394 3386
Volume 4, Issue 3
March 2017

Table 1(contd.): Estimated Areal Extent of Water Surface, Submerged Land Area and
Volume of Water Impounded within the Tipaimukh Reservoir

Areal
Elevation: Areal Water Land Water Elevation: Water Land Water
Sl. Sl.
From 53 Surface Submerged Volume From 53 Surface Submerged Volume
No. No.
to (m) Extent (km2) (km2) (M m3) to (m) Extent (km2) (M m3)
(km2)

88 144 115.421021 119.031581 6596.367345 110 166 172.176325 179.227771 12130.120088

89 145 117.647481 121.417395 6779.262149 111 167 175.567218 182.868775 12491.159269

90 146 118.359912 122.193534 6840.169333 112 168 177.881077 185.327967 12744.794936

91 147 121.410039 125.471313 7095.972753 113 169 180.359139 187.991362 13014.467161

92 148 123.056489 127.258005 7238.335527 114 170 190.729569 198.524664 14212.339419

93 149 124.943065 129.278377 7404.907962 115 171 193.324162 201.323709 14498.708548

94 150 128.204184 132.815174 7687.284339 116 172 200.046800 208.235019 15280.572256

95 151 129.734986 134.470682 7825.562327 117 173 201.336593 209.620651 15429.869764

96 152 133.486950 138.374170 8180.825027 118 174 204.069789 212.544295 15740.389626

97 153 135.512128 140.530773 8369.309597 119 175 206.539905 215.218836 16022.441789

98 154 136.100966 141.110381 8433.915776 120 176 209.367562 218.240451 16349.073470

99 155 139.272921 144.497779 8729.110409 121 177 213.182207 222.296294 16791.191499

100 156 140.660706 146.014807 8861.018223 122 178 213.218402 222.287281 16815.522768

101 157 143.331222 148.927733 9110.861537 123 179 217.700455 227.177577 17327.146159

102 158 145.137462 150.890559 9284.725142 124 180 220.931558 230.658853 17707.683858

103 159 146.798037 152.689022 9447.629701 125 181 223.640035 233.582017 18031.730214

104 160 150.846628 156.922385 9863.839533 126 182 227.052116 237.210397 18446.830127

105 161 153.991215 160.199222 10188.327076 127 183 230.991237 241.390431 18932.739982

106 162 156.080839 162.472050 10397.056804 128 184 232.945790 243.409089 19184.968662

107 163 157.807625 164.347079 10573.539281 129 185 236.446152 247.123575 19622.837923

108 164 161.307105 168.046150 10942.721990 130 186 239.417708 250.344750 19990.405080

109 165 169.198589 176.094680 11810.825926 131 187 243.407150 254.595618 20499.746836

273 Konthoujam James Singh

 International Journal of Engineering Technology Science and Research
IJETSR
www.ijetsr.com
ISSN 2394 3386
Volume 4, Issue 3
March 2017

Table 1(contd.): Estimated Areal Extent of Water Surface, Submerged Land Area and
Volume of Water Impounded within the Tipaimukh Reservoir

Areal Areal
Elevation: Water Land Water Elevation: Water Land Water
Sl. Sl.
From 53 Surface Submerged Volume From 53 Surface Submerged Volume
No. No.
to (m) Extent (km2) (M m3) to (m) Extent (km2) (M m3)
(km2) (km2)

132 188 246.631191 258.071474 20907.387623 154 210 357.781151 375.844432 36338.496418

133 189 249.726341 261.421830 21300.287161 155 211 363.276676 381.856877 37147.577759

134 190 254.910231 267.104543 21949.820407 156 212 364.877220 383.527762 37404.680903

135 191 258.748712 271.259039 22445.196027

136 192 280.992123 293.460582 25550.446073

137 193 284.631087 297.372438 26031.952446

138 194 288.656724 301.651745 26568.806916

139 195 295.701589 309.288818 27497.258551

140 196 298.985661 312.697636 27959.955664

141 197 303.515386 317.519948 28580.013257

142 198 303.293799 317.166072 28560.049495

143 199 308.934105 323.285019 29341.752531

144 200 312.415928 326.910449 29831.999657

145 201 316.132580 330.897873 30350.200684

146 202 320.686141 335.917017 30978.033230

147 203 325.069318 340.628834 31593.815127

148 204 332.332239 348.413722 32621.877888

149 205 337.638841 354.179864 33375.598111

150 206 342.899536 359.841187 34132.766831

151 207 343.980985 360.942105 34309.361425

152 208 348.726999 366.039333 35001.336672

153 209 353.171973 370.882075 35651.959753

274 Konthoujam James Singh