95 Kms from Jammu to the west of the Holy Shrine of Vashnodeviji is the Salal Dam and Lake. With an installed capacity of 400 mw of electricity, this is the largest Hydroelectric Project commissioned in the state so far. The lake formed behind the dam is 33 Kms long. The Dam site can be visited with the permission of the project authorities. The Salal hydel power project on the Chenab river in Jammu and Kashmir is the country’s first dam built on a rock pedestal and was commissioned by the Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi. The project started in 1970, but it took eight years to negotiate the Salal Dam agreement with Pakistan. Power from the project is transmitted to the Northern Grid where it is distributed to the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, and the union territory Chandigarh.

(source:jktourism.org)