RAWATBHATA: An amazingly spectacular place on the Earth dotted with numerous Power Plants in mesmerizing natural settings with the childhood memories of the place very close to my Heart.

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Rawatbhata is a town in the Chittorgarh distt. of Rajasthan ,India on the banks of river Chambal with a large Rana Pratap Sagar Dam built over it. Its 50 km from Kota city famous for the competitive/ Coaching classes. Rawatbhata is renowned for the largest Nuclear site with max no. of operating units at a single location! I have spent my whole childhood and a part of adulthood in this small place which never stops mesmerizing me.The spectacular views of Rawatbhata pave a strong foundation of the fact that this lovely place is indeed an Oasis in Rajasthan. This heaven blossoms to another level during monsoon when one can enjoy the place to the fullest. There are some beautiful places(ancient ruins & religious sites comparable to some precious antiques of nature) and waterfalls such as Bhaisrorgarh, Chullia falls, submersible bridge, Parajhar, Saddledam, Charbhujanath temple, Jain Shwetambhar temple, United Church, ,Gurudwara ,Shivmandir, Jama masjid/Madina masjid &Maharana Pratap-Chetak statue on a hill at Vikramnagar/RAPP Township. In addition to being the largest nuclear site in India, Rawatbhata also boasts of a Heavy water plant (100T/Yr Capacity)and a Nuclear Fuel Complex-a new fuel fabrication facility being set up by NFC, Hyderabad here. In addition to these there are innumerable tourist destinations such as Geparnath mahadev /waterfalls, Kota city, Bundi & Ranthanbhore .Rawatbhata is a heavenly site with diverse avenues of natural beauty, Hydroelectric & Nuclear plants at one place.

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About RAWATBHATA : Its a city, Tehsil and Nagarpalika in Chittor distt. of Raj. Its renowned for the 8 Nuclear Power plants: RAPS-1(1X100MW- Decommissioned), RAPS-2(1X200MW),RAPS-3/4/5/6(4X220MW),and 2Nos. RAPP-7&8 (2X700MW) are in the construction stages. Apart from the 8 Nuclear plants ,there is a 100 T/yr capacity Heavy Water production plant and an under construction Nuclear fuel complex facility being set up here. RB has one of the largest dams of Raj. built over river Chambal-Ranapratap Sagar dam equipped with a 172MW Hydroelectric power station (4x43MW). Area: 21.53 sq km,Population-37,701(2011-Censes),Sex ratio :927/1000.Literacy rate- 85.82%which is higher than the national literacy rate of 74.04%.Its divided into 40 wards .RB Muncipality has administration over 8397 houses to which it caters to basic amenities like water and sewage facilities. (A)SCHOOLS :Govt. Schools :-1)AECS-2/3/4 under AEES. State Govt.schools:-1)2 SSC Schools,2)2 Sr Sec schools.3)2 Upper primary schools,4)5 Primary schools,6) 1Sanskrit Sec school.(B)Colleges:-BA/B COM,BSC,B.ED+STC, Govt ITI(Fitter/welder/electronics),Private ITI.(C)Hospitals :Govt.Ayurveda hospital, Lahoti hospital, RAPS Hospital, RRVUNL and Vimla hospital.(D)Post Offices:-1)Vikramnagar,2)Anukiran,3)New market.

Important Locations :-

A)Dams on Chambal river :Chambal enters MP in Mhow and exits from gorge section into the plains of Rajasthan at Kota.There are 4 dams constructed over Chambal river for Electricity generation and irrigation purposes.

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1)Gandhisagar Dam, MP :Its located at Mandsor distt.Neemuch of MP and was constructed in the yr.1960 and has a 125MW(25X5)Hydroelectric generating station, 2)Rana Pratapsagar dam, Rawatbhata: Water released from GS Dam,MP is utilized by RPS Dam for generating 172MW(4X43)by Hydroelectric station.RPS Dam also supplies water to RAPS for electricity generation.Constuction of RPS Dam was started in 1953 and completed in 1970 and was inaugurated by late Smt Indira Gandhi, the then PM of India and named the dam after Great warrior Maharana Pratap.

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3)Jawahar sagar Dam :-Its between Rawatbhata and kota generating 60 MW(3X20) Hydroelectric power.4)Kota Barrage :-It uses water for the irrigation purposes only.

B)RR Site-RAPS Units-1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8 :-RAPS-1-Construction of the 220MW Unit was started in 1963 and completed in Dec.1973.Due to some technical reasons its power was reduced to 100MW and later had to be decommissioned owing to multiple system problems.At present it is under DAE. RAPS-2-It is operating at 200MW power. Its commissioning was delayed upto 1981 as Canada stopped their support owing to the 1974 ‘Smiling Buddha” Nuclear test conducted by India.RAPS-3/4(220MW) Commissioned in Dec.1999/Nov.2000, RAPS-5/6(220MW)- Commissioned in Feb.2010/Mar.2010.At present the Nameplate capacity is 1080 MW. RAPP-7/8(700MW) are under construction and may be commissioned in Mar-2022/Mar 2023.Apart from numerous safety and regulations being adhered(as per the Atomic Energy Act-1962) to at RR Site,there is the Personnel Decontamination centre adjacent to the RAPS Hospital. Various agencies such as AERB,WANO,IAEA ensure implementation of safety regulations& compliance of prescribed safeguards from time to time. There is no compromise on safety of personnel working in the site. Annual full body checkups are conducted for detecting any exposure to irradiations above the permissible levels apart from the use of protective gear compulsory as per the location of the work undertaken. ABBREVATIONS USED:1)PHWR-Pressurised Heavy water Reactor, BWR-Boiling Water Reactor, LWR-Light water Reactor, BHAVINI-Bhartiya Nabhikiya Vidhyut Nigam, VVER-Voda Voda Energo Reactor, KKNPS-Kudamkulan Nuclear Power Station,UC-Under construction ,CO-Commercial Operation. RAPP-Rajastahan Atomic Power Project, NPCIL-Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. AERB-Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, IAEA-International Atomic Energy Agency, AECS-Atomic Energy central School, RPS-Rana Pratap Sagar. RB-Rawatbhata, NP -Nuclear power. WANO-World Association of Nuclear Operators.

C)NPCIL : Its a public sector enterprise under the administrative control of the DAE, Govt of India. Registered in Sept.1987 for operating the NPPs and constructing new power for generation of Electricity under the AEA 1962.It has equity participation in Bhavini ,another PSU of DAE which implements FBRs programs in India. Presently operating 22 Commercial reactors with installed capacity of 6780MW,two BWRs & 18 PHWRs and 2VVER Reactors-KKNPS-1&2 at Kudankulam.1x100MW PHWR(RAPS-1) is in decommissioned state owned by DAE. Currently there are 8 Reactors under different stages of construction of total 6200MW Mission of NPCIL :To develop NP Technology and to produce Nuclear power as a safe environmentally benign and economically viable source of electrical energy to meet the increasing demand of electricity requirement of the country.

D)Heavy water Plant :Its adjacent to the RAPP Site. Its solely indigenous effort& based over Bi thermal H2O-H2S exchange Process called GS Process. It recieves its electrical power &steam from RAPS. Capacity is 80MT/Yr. Date of commissioning:01-04-1985. E)Nuclear Fuel Complex ,Rawatbhata :NFC Hyderabad is setting up a new facility at Rawatbhata adjacent to the Heavy water Plant with a capacity of 500 TPY PHWR Fuel fabrication and 65 TPY Capacity fuel cladding fabrication. Production of fuel bundle is scheduled in July 2022.In 5yrs time the capacity will be enhanced to 1000TPY after which this site will be the worlds largest production site.

LOCAL PLACES OF INTEREST :

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1)BAROLI TEMPLE COMPLEX :Its located in Baroli village in RB having 8 temples within it and an additional temple 1 km away. Built in Gurjar -Pratihara style is dated back to the 10th century AD. All 9 temples are under ASI for conservation and protection.2)CHARBHUJANATH TEMPLE: Its located in RB with a divine Idol of Charbhujanathji in Jhalar Baori. 3)PARAJHAR WATER FALLS :Its near Parajhar gaon known for cave temple of Lord Shiva.Its a beautiful picnic spot except that a dangerous location known for many fatal casualities.4)SADDLE DAM :Its a non gated stone and mud dam to divert the chambal water towards the main RPS Damand away from some villages. Having a nicely kept garden as a good picnic spot.4)CHULIA FALLS:A series of amazing waterfalls taking the shape of Chudiyan(bangles).A riverbed has surfaced because of the construction of RAPS Dam on Chambal river.Another nice picnic spot. 5)SUBMERSIBLE BRIDGE , 6)STATUE OF RANA PRATAP & CHETAK :RPS Dam is connected to Vikramnagar (RAPS TOWNSHIP) on a small hill by a road .There is a large metal statue of Maharana Pratap & Chetak which is also an important view point of Rawatbhata city .There is a well maintained garden here for the tourists.7)BHAINSRORGARH :Its 7 KM from Rawatbhata ,and 125 km from Chittorgarh.Its an impregnable fort inhabited from at least 2nd Century BC located between two rivers Chambal and Bamani.It was a seat of Mewar and princely state of Sisodia clan.It was built by Rawat Lal Singh of Salumber.BRG was granted as “Jagir”.Maharana Jagat Sngh II of Mewar in 1741 AD. There is a Bhaisrorgarh Wild life Sanctuary with wild animals in their natural habitats.

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8)GEPARNATH MAHADEV/WATERFALLS :Around 30km from RB is the Gepernath mahadev temple with a Shiva idol and Shivlinga believed to be 500 yrs old located around 400 feet below ground level.Its nature’s miracle that there is continuous waterfall on the Shivling.Owing to numerous waterfalls it is a very nice picnic spot especially in rainy season.

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SOME OTHER TOURIST DESTINATIONS : 1)CHITTORGARH :Its the distt. headquarter of RB at a distance of 130km,and the former capital of Sisodia Rajput dynasty located on the bank rivers Gambhiri and Berach.Its famous for the Chittor Fort or the Vijay Sthamb which is the largest in India and Asia.The fort was built by Mewar King Rana Kumbha in 1448 to commemmorate his victory over the combined army of Malwa and Gujarat led by Mohd. Khilji.The Vijay sthambh is dedicated to Lord Vishnu.

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2)KOTA :It was previously called Kotah and is around 50 km from Rawatbhata situated on the banks of river Chambal.Its a major coaching hub for competative exams of IIT/JEE/NEET/Medical.It was the erstwhile Rajput kingdom of Bundi and became a separate princely state in the 17th Century.Main attractions of Kota are :-1)Kota Barrage,2)Kota fort/City palace,3)Maharao Madho Singh museum,4)Jagmandir(10th century),5)7-Wonders Park,6)Chambal gardens,7)Kota stone,8)University of kota,9)Vardhman mahavir open Univ.,10) Govt.Engg college &Medical college,11)Pharmacy college,12)kota Agricultural Univ.13)kota kachori &Namkeen

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3)BUNDI: Its a district in Hadoti region of Raj.located in a narrow valley of Aravali hills.The main inhabitants in ancient times were local tribes of which Parihar Tribes Meena were prominent.Bundi’s name was derived fromfrom former Meena Tribal Chief called Bundela Meena .Bundi was previously called Bunda-ka Nal where Nal means narrow ways.In 14/15th century,the Hadas of Bundi were the vassals of Sisodias of Mewar and ruled by the title of Raoraja. Its 30 km from Kota. 4)RANTHAMBHOR :The fort lies within the Ranthambore national park near the city of Sawaimadhopur,parks being the hunting grounds of Maharajas of Jaipur until Indian Independence.The fort was under the rule of Chahamana rajputs(Chauhans)till the defeat of Prithvi Raj Chauhan until the 13th century, when it came under the rule of Mohd.Ghori.Its famous for Tiger safari & elegant Ranthambhor fort.Its 230km from kota.

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MY RAWATBHATA CONNECTION :My father served the Gandhisagar Hydel Project,MP from 1958 to 1961 before shifting to Rana Pratap Sagar,Rawatbhata for the RPS Dam project.I was only two yrs old then.After that he joined RAPP in 1963 for the civil survey work.I took admission in the RAPP- AECS and passed the All India Hr. Sec exam-1975(CBSE) from AECS-1 School! Thus I spent my entire childhood at RB. Meanwhile my father got transferred to NAPP, Narora for the Project construction work and I completed my further education in UP. Like a dream coming true, I got appointed as an Electrical Maintenance Trainee and joined RAPS,Rawatbhata in Sept.1981 to reunite again with the place of my dreams. Served RAPS for four yrs before I was transferred to NAPP for the Commissioning work of NAPS-1&2 in Nov.1985.I served NAPS -1&2 for 14 yrs before I was deputed for the work of Uranium Exploration and Research and joined AMDER/WR at Jaipur in Nov.1999.I have retired from AMD in Jan.2019 as Scientific Officer-E after putting up over 38 yrs service in the DAE. That was indeed a very fruitful period of my entire life.

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Thus I have spent my entire childhood and a part of my adulthood in Rawatbhata of which I have very fond memories- of playfulness, childish innocence and of being an obedient and disciplined student with due regard to my respected teachers. I am posting some photos of my schoolmates/teachers which I have preserved so long as my precious possessions. That was some quality time in my life. Rawatbhata is like heaven to me so close to my heart & I miss no opportunity to visit the place which is, indeed ,an Oasis in the state of Rajasthan.

PL.NOTE MY READERS:I am indebted to Wikipedia for the required information for the blog & request my readers to inform on this site for any required correction !Thanks and Happy Reading!