The construction of this dam on the Koyna river started in 1956 and in 1964 the completed dam was dedicated to the nation. With a huge water storage capacity of 105.02 TMC, this dam is known as 'Bhagyalakshmi of Maharashtra', as industrialization needed electricity to drive the developmental policies of the time.
Although the current demand for electricity has increased tremendously, when this dam was built, it provided electricity to half of Karnataka along with the entire Maharashtra.
Huge turbines (Jannitras) have been set up at Pofli, Alore and Tambatwadi, which rotate the water coming from the dam through the tunnel and generate electricity. At present, a total of 3271.90 crore units of electricity is generated through this dam.
The reservoir of this dam is known as 'Shivasagar' which has a huge extension from Koynanagar to Tapola. Hundreds of engineers and workers were involved in the construction of this rubble concrete dam. Some of the Western Ghats' gifts to the district include natural landforms.
Originating at Mahabaleshwar, the Koyna travels through the hilly areas. Koyna dam was built keeping in mind that if a dam wall is built in between, near Deshmukhwadi in Patan taluka, huge water storage will be available.
As the tributaries of the Koyna, Solshi and Kandati also meet the Koyna in this area, the vast Shivsagar reservoir was created.
Asia's first lake tapping was successfully conducted in the reservoir of this dam to meet the increasing demand for electricity. The experiment, which was conducted twice on March 13, 1999, and 25 April 2012, was successful and doubled the power generation capacity.
Lake tapping has been proposed once more in the future, to increase the power generation capacity of the dam to about 2040 MW. The name 'Bhagyalakshmi' has thus been justified by Koyna Dam.
On the hill on the right side of Koyna Dam, Pt. Nehru Park was created and opened for tourists on 18 December 1999. Pandit Nehru's memorial has been built here.
Fountains and waterfalls have been created with attractive electric lighting. Also, various trees have been planted to attract the attention of tourists. Koyna information centre has also been established at this place.
348 KM from Mumbai Airport via Pune, Satara, Umbraj, Patan, Koyananagar
193 Km from Pune via Shirwal, Satara, Umbraj, Patan, Koaynanagar
129 KM from Kolhapur via Karad, Patan, Koaynanagar
339 KM from Goa via Belgavi, Kolhapur, Karad, Patan, Koyananagar
82.2 KM from Satara Bus Stand via Umbraj, Patan, Koaynanagar
