The Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) was based on the idea of Tenesse Valley Authority of the United States of America. Launched on the river Damodar, this DVC project benefits the states of West Bengal and Bihar. An important feature of this project is the 692 metres long and 11.6 metres high barrage constructed across the Damodar at Durgapur. The Right Bank canal and the Left Bank canal , originating from the barrage are used for irrigation and navigation respectively. This project constitutes three thermal powerhouses at Bokaro, Chandrapur and Durgapur.

The following dams are a part of this project:

The Tilaiya Dam: Built across the river Barakar, the main tributary of the Damodar, this dam is 30 metres high and 366 metres long. There are two powerhouses, each having a capacity of 2000 kw.

The Konar Dam: It is located in the Hazaribagh district on the Konar river, a distributary of the Damodar. This dam has a height of 49 metres and length of 3548 metres.

The Maithon Dam: The main purpose of this dam is flood control. Constructed on the Barakar river, 26 kilometres away from the Asansol railway station, it is 94 metres high and 144 metres long. There are three hydel power units, each with a capacity of 20,000 kw.

The Panchet Hill Dam: The speciality of this 2545 metre long and 45 metre high dam is that it is made of earth .It is constructed across the river Damodar in the Dhanbad district. Its single hydel power unit has a capacity of 40, 000 kilowatts.

Functions of DVC

Producing electricity: DVC has under its operation four coal based thermal power stations, three hydel power stations and one gas turbine station having a cumulative generating capacity of 2796.5 MW .In order to increase the capacity by another 1000 MW through four extension units ( two at Mejia and two at Chandrapur are under construction and are expected to be completed by the end of the10th Five Year Plan.

DVC is also working on reframing its old units.

Some of its features are as follows

Distributing electricity: DVC has devised a dense network of 220 KV and 132 KV Transmission and Distribution system for supplying power to its consumers via the power stations. This system comprises about 4,761 circuit Km Transmission Lines, and 44 Sub-stations .

Managing the water resources: DVC`s network of four dams, one barrage and a canal checks floods and provides for irrigation.

Conserving forests: Activities like watershed management and other allied tasks are performed periodically. Watershed management mainly constitutes controlling soil erosion and augmenting the life span of DVC reservoirs by curtailing the flow of debris that lead to silt deposition. The other tasks include planting trees, managing the soil, building check dams, protecting or reviving the land and rehabilitating denuded forests. More than 16000 check dams and silt detention structures have already been built.

Community service: A `Social Integration Programme` was started in 1981 by DVC . The programme is aimed at developing agriculture, education, health, self employment, social forestry, sports and culture, infrastructure and rural electrification.

The eventual benefits of the project are as follows:

Building dams and thermal power stations.

Irrigating large hectares of land in Hooghly, Howrah, Bankura andBurdwan districts in West Bengal

Controlling floods

Transportation through canals

Checking soil erosion by planting trees

Anti-malaria drives

All these facilities make Damodar Valley one of the key industrial regions of West Bengal. Moreover, the forests, hills and large beautiful lakes attract a large number of tourists.