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Pratim Ranjan Bose

Kolkata , May 25

AFTER nearly half a century, Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) is all set to undertake a Rs 400-crore multipurpose dam project at Balpahari in Jharkhand.

Though proposed some years ago, the project was delayed as Jharkhand Government withheld approval, demanding an increase in the catchment area of the Dam in the State.

Sources said that DVC had recently submitted a revised project proposal, which included an increased catchment area in Jharkhand, which was approved by the State Government.

The corporation has also carried out a pre-feasibility study on the project and has now approached Central Water Commission for preparing a detailed feasibility report.

Planned as part of its network of dams and barrages in the Damodar valley region, the Balpahari project was conceived with the objective of reducing siltation problems at the dam at Maithon, increasing the reach of canal irrigation and adding to hydro-electric generation capacity by 20 MW from the existing 144 MW.

The project will be located on the Barakar river, which forms the boundary between West Bengal and Jharkhand, downstream from the Tilaiya Barrage.

DVC currently owns a network of 4 major dams at Maithon, Panchet, Tilya and Konar and a barrage at Durgapur with the capacity to moderate peak floods of 6.51 lakh cusec to 2.5 lakh cusec.

The corporation also has more than 2,494 kms of irrigation canal network. Of interest is the fact that all major projects were commissioned between 1953 and 1959.

The multipurpose projects are located on the Damodar and its tributaries, namely Barakar and Konar. Of the five projects, Maithon and Panchet are the biggest both in terms of reservoir capacity and hydro-electric generation capacity (together producing more than 140 MW).

Built with the twin objective of harnessing water resources and preventing flooding in the Damodar Valley region in the monsoon, the entire dam system is now exposed to serious siltation problems caused by large scale deforestation in the upper valley region.

Hydro roadblock

DAMODAR Valley Corporation's (DVC) initiative to take a relook at the hydroelectric power generation potential in its designated catchment area spreading over West Bengal and Jharkhand has hit a roadblock.

According to sources in DVC, even after two years of approaching the Central Water Commission (CWC) for conducting a comprehensive study of the Damodar river valley region, the commission is yet to submit a report on the subject.

Having set up three hydel facilities of a combined capacity of 104 MW between 1953 and 1959, DVC only added 40 MW capacity at Panchet in 1991, taking total generation capacity to 144 MW.

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