advantaages of damodar river valley project
Answers
The Damodar River is a tributary of the Hugli River. It flows more or less in the west to east direction through Jharkhand and West bengal.
Its total length from its source in the hills of Chota Nagpur plateau in Jharkhand to its confluence with Hugli in West Bengal is about 541 km, half of which is in Jharkhand and the remaining half is in West Bengal.
It takes a southerly turn from Bardhman town and joins river Hugli about 50 km upstream from Kolkata. The Damodar valley covers an area of 24,235 sq km in Jharkhand and West Bengal. Bokaro, Barakar and Konar are its important tributaries.
The Damodar River was termed River of Sorrow or Sorrow of Bengal and even Sorrow of the Region. Its notoriety was demonstrated by the devastating floods in 1823, 1848, 1856, 1859, 1863 1882, 1890, 1898, 1901, 1905, 1907, 1913, 1916, 1923, 1935 and 1943. While major floods occur at intervals, minor floods are experienced almost every year. The sediments brought by the Damodar create the problem of sedimentation in the Hugly which in turn endangers the Kolkata port.
In order to control floods and other related problems, the Central Government, in consultation with the state governments of erstwhile Bihar and West Bengal, worked out a unified development project for the Damodar Basin. The Damodar Flood Enquiry Committee suggested a comprehensive plan. This plan was based on the memorandum submitted by W.L. Voorduin, an engineer with the Tennesse Valley authority (TVA) in the USA. The Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) was established on 18th February, 1948 to execute the Damodar Valley Project.