Supa Dam - History, Timings & Entry Fee

At a distance of 1 km from Ganeshgudi Bus Stand and 23 km from Dandeli, Supa Dam, built across River Kali, is situated in Joida taluk of Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka. This is one of the largest dams in the Karnataka and also one of the well-known Dandeli places to visit. This dam is built to manage the water of Kalinadi River to provide irrigation facility to the surrounding area.

The construction of the dam started in 1974 and ended in 1987. The dam was built by Hindustan Steel Works Construction Limited (HSCL) and is now operated by Karnataka Power Corporation Limited. The power house was commissioned in 1985. The name of the dam is derived from Suparulu (God of forests).

The height of the dam is 101 m from foundation level and the length is 332 m. It has a catchment area of 1057 sq. km and 145 TMC live storage capacity. Three radial gates of size 15 x 10 m are provided to regulate the flood discharge. The reservoir has two saddle dams of length 705 m and 940 m. The power house at the foot of the dam has two electricity generators of 50 MW each. They generate about 542 Million Units annually. The electricity generated is supplied to different parts of Karnataka.

Visitors are not allowed near the main dam entrance. On the way to the dam, there is a bridge over Kali River from where one can have a view of the dam and see the water gushing out if the gates are open.