Damodar River
| Damodar River | |
|---|---|
Damodar River in the lower reaches of the Chota Nagpur Plateau in dry season
|
|
Damodar Map
|
|
| Country | India |
| Location | Bokaro, Asansol, Raniganj, Durgapur, Bardhaman |
| Basin features | |
| Main source | Chandwa, latehar , Chota Nagpur Plateau, Jharkhand |
| River mouth | Hooghly River, Howrah district, West Bengal |
| Tributaries |
|
| Physical characteristics | |
| Length | 592 km (368 mi) |
| Discharge |
|
Damodar River (Pron:/ˈdæmoˌdaː/) is a river flowing across the Indian states of West Bengal and Jharkhand. Rich in mineral resources, the valley is home to large-scale mining and industrial activity. Earlier known as the Sorrow of Bengal because of its ravaging floods in the plains of West Bengal, the Damodar and its tributaries have been somewhat tamed with the construction of several dams.
Means "rope around the belly", derived from Sanskrit दाम (dama) "rope" and उदर (udara) "belly". This is another name of the Hindu god Krishna, given to him because his foster-mother tied him to a large urn.
It has a number of tributaries and subtributaries, such as Barakar, Konar, Bokaro, Haharo, Jamunia, Ghari, Guaia, Khadia and Bhera.
The Barakar is the most important tributary of the Damodar. It originates near Padma in Hazaribagh district and flows through Jharkhand before meeting the Damodar near Dishergarh in West Bengal. The Damodar and the Barakar trifurcates the Chota Nagpur plateau. The rivers pass through hilly areas with great force, sweeping away whatever lies in their path. Two bridges on the Grand Trunk Road near Barhi in Hazaribagh district were torn down by the Barakar: the great stone bridge in 1913 and the subsequent iron bridge in 1946.
The Chota Nagpur Plateau receives an average annual rainfall of around 1,400 mm (55 in), almost all of it in the monsoon months between June and August. The huge volume of water that flows down the Damodar and its tributaries during the monsoons used to be a fury in the upper reaches of the valley. In the lower valley it used to overflow its banks and flood large areas.
Damodar River was earlier known as the "River of Sorrows" as it used to flood many areas of Bardhaman, Hooghly, Howrah and Medinipur districts. Even now the floods sometimes affect the lower Damodar Valley, but the havoc it wreaked in earlier years is now a matter of history.
...
Wikipedia