Damodar river
Also called: Sorrow of Bengal · Topic: Drainage System of India: Rivers, Basins and Patterns · NCERT: Class 10, Ch 3 "Water Resources"; Class 11, Ch 3 "Drainage System"
Meaning
The Damodar river flows east along the eastern edge of the Chotanagpur plateau and joins the Hugli. It runs in a rift valley, a long valley formed where land sank between two faults (cracks in the earth's crust). The Barakar is its main tributary. Its floods were once so destructive that it was called the "sorrow of Bengal".
Example
The Damodar Valley Corporation, set up in 1948 and modelled on the Tennessee Valley Authority of the USA, built dams on the Damodar and Barakar. These dams control floods and supply irrigation and power across Jharkhand and West Bengal.
Don't confuse with
- Kosi: the "sorrow of Bihar". It floods because huge silt blocks its channel and the river shifts course. It is a Himalayan river, not a plateau river in a rift valley.
Related concepts
- Yamuna river
- Chambal river
- Betwa and Ken rivers
- Son river
- Ghaghara river
- Sarda river
- Gandak river
- Kosi river
- Mahananda river