Tawa Reservoir

About:

Tawa Reservoir is a large reservoir on the Tawa River in central India. It is located in Hoshangabad District of Madhya Pradesh state. The reservoir was formed by the construction of the Tawa Dam, which began in 1958 and was completed in 1978. The dam provides for irrigation to several thousand hectares of farming land in Hoshangabad and Harda districts. It is also a big tourist attraction during the monsoon months. A Cruise boat service has been started by the tourism department for visitors to the dam and reservoir.

The dam has brought prosperity to the Hoshangabad district.The Tawa River is a tributary of the Narmada River of central India.

The Tawa is the Narmada's longest tributary, at 172 km. It rises in the Satpura Range of Betul and Chhindwara districts, flowing north and west to join the Narmada at the village of Bandra Bhan in Hoshangabad District.

In 1958, construction began on Tawa Dam, which was completed in 1978 to create Tawa Reservoir in southern Hoshangabad District. Forty-four villages were submerged by the reservoir.

India's oldest forest preserve, the Bori Reserve Forest, was established in 1865 along the Tewa. The Bori Reserve Forest is presently part of the Bori Sanctuary, which is part of the Pachmarhi Biosphere Preserve, established in 1999, which covers much of the upper watershed of the Tawa.

Tawa Reservoir forms the western boundary of Satpura National Park and Bori Wildlife Sanctuary.

Therefore, through the case of Tawa reservoir, we are trying to understand the fisheries resource and the production scenario. Tawa reservoir has undergone operation through different management regime, and hence, provides an opportunity to comprehend the performance of these regimes and their implications on fisheries resources. In this paper, our attempt is therefore, to understand the dynamics of the fisheries resource of Tawa reservoir.

With the limited available data, we analyse the catch and stocking relationship, predator- prey relationship and also to identify the determinants that influence the productivity of the Tawa reservoir. Based on the time-series data available a model was developed to determine the production possibility of the fish resource in Tawa. Our finding suggests that among different regimes existed in Tawa fisheries management, the cooperative form under Tawa Matsya Sangha (TMS)'s performance is better." Hence creates a lot of opportunities for economic development of the rural people. Reservoir fisheries are classic case of Common Pool Resources (CPRS) and hence require comprehensive institutional arrangement that can ensure productivity of the fish resources without compromising with the ecological needs.