Question

The dam built at Hanuman Nagar on the Indian-Nepal border is across the river
A) Ganga
B) Kosi
C) Sutlej
D) Gandak

Answer 1

Hint: The dam was built on the Indo-Nepal border between 1959 and 1963. The dam is also known by the name Bhimnagar Barrage and was built under a bilateral agreement between Nepal and India.

Complete answer:
Koshi Barrage, also referred to as Bhimnagar Barrage, was constructed at Hanuman Nagar on the Indo-Nepal border between 1959 and 1963. The dam was built under a bilateral agreement between Nepal and India for the purpose of irrigation, flood control as well as hydropower generation on the Kosi River. The entire cost of the project was paid by India.

In Nepal, the catchment area of the river is 61,788 sq Km at the barrage site. The highest peaks also lie here, about which 10% is snow-fed. The Eastern Canal was designed for a discharge capacity of 455 cubic metres per second (16,100 cu ft/s) to irrigate 6,125 square kilometres (1,514,000 acres) and the Western Canal taking off from the barrage, has a capacity of 210 cubic metres per second (7,400 cu ft/s) to irrigate 3,566.1 square kilometres (881,200 acres), respectively.

On the Eastern Canal, a hydropower plant has been constructed at a canal drop (3.6 km (2.2 mi) from the Koshi Barrage), to generate 20 MW. The Western Kosi Canal provides water for irrigation to 250 square kilometres of area in Nepal. A bridge over the barrage was opened on the East-West highway in the eastern sector of Nepal.

Thus, the correct answer is option (B) Kosi

Note:
a) A dam on the Kosi was first suggested in 1937 and in 1951, a committee under S C Majumdar, advisor-engineer to the government of West Bengal, was created to check the feasibility of the project.
b) The committee said that in 1952 the need for power in India was 1,100 mw, whereas 1,750 mw was being generated in the country.
c) It stated that between 1940 and 1950 the power demand had increased by 50 mw per year, so "a large capital would be blocked unproductively in the name of power production". It recommended shelving the project.
d) In 1953, the barrage at Hanuman Nagar and embankments on the Kosi came along as the most feasible alternative.