Question

Damodar Valley and its significant role in irrigation

Answer 1

The Damodar river rises in the state of Bihar in eastern India, and flows south‐east for 336 miles to join the Hooghly‐Bhagirathi 30 miles to the south of Calcutta. The Damodar serves one of the most important coalbearing regions of India in its upper reaches, while downstream its waters feed important agricultural districts near Calcutta. Consciously modelled on the Tennessee Valley Authority in the USA, the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) wasset up by the government of India in 1948, principally to provide flood control and irrigation to the valley and generate hydroelectric power. The plan was to impound 5–3 million Acft of water with the help of seven dams in its upper reaches and a barrage downstream to control the flow down the river and the canals. Ultimately, only four dams were built in 1950–59 (with a barrage in Durgapur), which together can impound 1–2 million Acft. Of this, only 0–47 million Acft has been earmarked for irrigation. In the first decade of its operation (i.e. 1958–68) DVC irrigation stabilised the cultivation of aman rice, which is the main crop of the most important crop season (i.e. the kharif or monsoon) in the area. The other two crop seasons, i.e. winter (rabi) and summer (boro) have been neglected, the boro particularly. This paper seeks to measure, with reference to the first decade of its operation, how much of the Damodar flow has been controlled by the DVC system and whether sufficient water is available in the river and in the reservoirs to provide irrigation in more than one crop season in the valley.