A reservoir may serve irrigation, electricity generation, drinking water and flood moderation. The trade-off can be seasonal: storing water for later use, releasing it through turbines, or reserving space for floods. Srisailam and Nagarjuna Sagar are multi-purpose settings; a dam’s presence does not mean every proposed benefit is delivered at the same time.

A power-house capacity is measured in megawatts, water storage in TMC or cubic metres, and irrigated land in hectares or acres. Watch the unit in MCQ options.

Worked example: Hydropower depends on head and discharge through turbines; irrigation depends on stored or diverted water reaching fields. Srisailam may appear in both contexts, but electricity generation does not prove a specific district's farmland received water. A question may ask for the river of a hydro station or for the scheme's multipurpose uses. Answer at the level asked and avoid treating turbine output as an irrigation statistic.

Active recall: Locate the named river or project on the relevant map, name its function, and state which facts need a dated source.