Mulshi (India)

Mulshi is the name of a major dam on the Mula River in India. It is located in the Mulshi taluka administrative division of the Pune district of Maharashtra State. Water from the dam is used for irrigation as well as for generating electricity at the Bhira hydroelectric power plant, operated by Tata Power. The station operates six 25MW Pelton turbines installed in 1927 and one 150MW Pumped Storage Unit. Water from this reservoir located in the Krishna River basin is diverted to the Bhira power house for generating Hydro electricity. During the construction of the dam and power station, Vinayak Bhuskute and Pandurang Mahadev Bapat led Mulshi Satyagrah, a movement (April1921 to December1924) to represent farmers whose land had been taken to build the project. Pandurang Mahadev Bapat was dubbed Senapati (commander) in recognition of his leadership. Although, a century has passed since the completion of the Dam, many of the demands of the aggrieved farmers are not full filled yet. As per the agreement in the year 1937 between the Government and Tata Power Company under the Land Acquisition Act (1894), land acquired and compensation paid was as follows : Total land acquired is 15073 acres and 35 gunthas, paying compensation of Rs.27,55,082. Apart from this, Rs. 377,403 was paid as compensation for houses, trees and temples. Thus, total compensation paid was Rs. 3,132,485.