Kaptai Lake is a man made lake in south-eastern
Bangladesh. It is located in the
Kaptai Upazila under
Rangamati District of
Chittagong Division. The lake was created as a result of building the
Kaptai Dam on the
Karnaphuli River, as part of the
Karnaphuli Hydro-electric project. The Kaptai Lake's average depth is 100 feet (30 m) and maximum depth is 490 feet (150 m).
History
Construction of the reservoir for the hydro-electric plant began in 1956 by the Government of East Pakistan.
[1] As a result, 54,000 acres (220 km
2) of farmland in the
Rangamati District
went under water and created the lake. The hydro-electric project was
funded by the United States. The project was finished in 1962.
International Engineering Company and Utah International Inc. received
the contract for construction of the dam. The dam is 670.8 meters long,
and 54.7 meters high. The dam has a 745 feet (227 m) long spillway
containing 16 gates. Through the spillway 5,250,000 cu ft/s (149,000 m
3/s)
of water can pass. The land that went under water as a result of the
dam construction, was 40% of the total arable land in the area. Along
with that, 29 square miles (75 km
2) of the Government-owned forest, and 234 square miles (610 km
2)
of other forest land went under water. About 18,000 families with a
total of almost 100 thousand people were also displaced. The palace of
the king of the
Chakmas was also flooded and is now under water.
[1]
Gallery
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Kaptai Lake
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Kaptai Lake near Tabalchhari
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Boat on Kaptai Lake during monsoon
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Sunset on Kaptai Lake
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