Damodar Valley Corporation(1948)

The Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) is a Government organization which operates several Power Stations in the Damodar River area of West Bengal and Jharkhand states of India.

The DVC operates both Thermal Power Stations and Hydel Power Stations under the Ministry of Power,Govt of India



DVC History

DVC emerged as a culmination of attempts made over a whole century to control the wild and erratic Damodar River

The river spans over an area of 25,235 sq. km covering the states of Bihar (now Jharkhand) & West Bengal.

The catastrophe caused by the1943 flood, led to serious public indignation against the Government

 As a result, the Government of Bengal appointed a board of Enquiry titled "Damodar Flood Enquiry Committee"with the Maharaja of Burdwan and the noted physicist Dr. Meghnad Saha as members for suggesting remedial measures.

The Damodar Flood Enquiry Committee suggested creation of an authority similar to the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in the USA, and recommended the construction of dams and storage reservoirs at the sites with a total capacity of 1.5 millions acre ft. (1.850 millions cu. M) and highlighted the possibilities of multipurpose development in the valley area.

The Govt. of India then commissioned the ‘Central Technical Power Board’ to study the proposal and appointed Mr. W L Voorduin, a senior engineer of the TVA to study the problem at the Damodar and to make his recommendation for comprehensive development of the valley.

 Accordingly, in August, 1944 Mr. Voorduin submitted his ‘Preliminary Memorandum on the unified Development of the Damodar River.’

Mr. Voorduin's "Preliminary Memorandum" suggested a multipurpose development plan designed for achieving flood control, irrigation, power generation and navigation in the Damodar Valley.

Four consultants appointed by the Government of India examined it. They also approved the main technical features of Voorduin's scheme and recommended early initiation of construction beginning with Tilaiya to be followed by Maithon.

By April 1947, full agreement was practically reached between the three Governments of Central, West Bengal and Bihar on the implementation of the scheme and in March 1948, the Damodar Valley Corporation Act (Act No. XIV of 1948) was passed by the Central Legislature, requiring the three Governments, The Central Government and the State Governments of West Bengal and Bihar (now Jharkhand) to participate jointly for the purpose of building the Damodar Valley Corporation.

The DVC came into existence on 7 July, 1948 as the first multipurpose river valley project of independent India.

 DVC is headquartered in the city of Kolkata, West Bengal, India

Water Management

DVC has a network of four dams - Tilaiya and Maithon on Barakar River,Panchat on Damodar River and Konar on Konar River

 Besides, Durgapur barrage and the canal network, handed over to Government of West Bengal in 1964, remained a part of the total system of water management. DVC dams are capable of moderating floods of 6.51 lac cusec to 2.5 lac cusecs.
Four multipurpose dams were constructed during the period 1948 to 1959.

• Maithon Dam
• Panchet Dam
• Tilaiya Dam
• Konar Dam

Flood reserve capacity of 1,292 mcm has been provided in 4 reservoirs, which can moderate a peak flood of 18,395 cumec to a safe carrying capacity of 7,076 cumec. 419 mcm of water is stored in the 4 DVC reservoirs to supply 680 cusec of water to meet industrial, municipal and domestic requirements in West Bengal & Jharkhand.
The Durgapur Barrage on Damodar River was constructed in 1955 for supply of irrigation water to the districts of Burdwan, Bankura & Hoogly.

• Irrigation Command Area (Gross): 569,000 hectares (5,690 km²)
• Irrigation Potential Created: 364,000 hectares (3,640 km²)
• Canals: 2,494 km (1,550 mi)

30,000 hectares (300 km²) of land in the upper valley is being irrigated, every year by lift irrigation with the water available from 16,000 (approx) check dams constructed by DVC.