MAHANADI River in the state of Odisha, 15 kilometers (9 mi) from Sambalpur.The Hirakud Reservoir, 55 km long, extends behind the dam.It is one of the first MAJOR multipurpose projects in the river valley that began following the independence of India.Sir M. Visveswararya suggested a thorough inquiry into storage reservoirs in the Mahanadi basin after the destructive floods of 1936, to address the issue of floods in the Mahanadi delta.In 1945, it was agreed to invest in the POSSIBLE benefits of controlling the Mahanadi for multi-purpose use under the chairmanship of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, the Member of Labour. The foundation stone of the Hirakud Dam was laid on 15 March 1946 by Sir Hawthorne Lewis, the Governor of Odisha.In June 1947, a project report was sent to the government. The first batch of concrete was laid by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru on 12 APRIL 1948.The dam was completed in 1953 and was officially inaugurated on 13 January 1957 by PRIME Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.In 1957, the overall cost of the project was ₹1,000.2 million.