Himalayan Times (1953)

Six

fjjimalnwan fyimza

August, 9 1953

THE DAMODAR, 'RIVER OF HOPE

II

“\A/E ^iave been living an unhappy
VV life ail these years, Our gene-
ration may have to remain unhappy
for quite some more years, but we know
our children will be happy.” These views
of Tokan Madho, a farmer displaced by
the Tilaiya reservoir and now living in
the new village of Bachchai, are typical
of the hope pervading the entire D. V. C.
area. The work proceeding in the valley
and the results already achieved, instil
confidence in the farmer that the pro-
jects will soon bring him prosperity be-
cause he will get his requirements of
much needed water.

To make this dream a reality, the
D V. C. engineers are working tirelessly
at their tasks. At Maithon, the next
project site 65 miles upstream from
Durgapur, human endeavour recently won
its race against time. The diversion cha-
nnel on one end of the earthen dam
to take the monsoon overflow of the
Barakar river was to be completed before
the outbreak of the monsoon. A fleet
of draglines, bulldozers, dumpers and
excavators worked round the clock digging
the channel. Success was achieved a few
days ago, when it was finished in good
time before the rains.

The Maithon Dam

The 162-foot high earth cum-con-
crete dam here is situated between two
hills on either banks of the Barakar,
eight miles above its confluence with
the Damodar. The concrete portion, 622
ft. long, will be linked to the hill on
the, right bank and stretch across the
diversion channel. Between the concrete
section and the hill on the left bank
will be the earth dam 2,005 ft. long.

Below the earth dam’s junction with the
left bank, a tunnel has been dynamited
through the hill to take the Barakar’s
cold weather discharge. From a width
of 25 ft. at the top, the concrete spill-
way will fan out to a base of 350 ft.
and the earth dam to 910 ft. Dykes
on both banks measuring 11,940 ft. will
hold the water in the reservoir.

The reservoir will submerge an area
of 26,500 acres and store 1,104,000 acre
feet of water, of which 725,000 acre
feet will be controlled flood storage.
The area irrigated will be 270,000 acres
and the power generation capacity of
the plant will be 40,000 KW. The earth
dam has risen to a height of 40 ft.
Work on the concrete section will begin
next season. The dam is scheduled to
be ready by the end of 1954.

Outstanding Fact

The Chief Engineer, Mr. A. M. Komora,
has his offices at Maithon. He stressed
the fact that while back in 1933-34 on
the Norris Dam in the T. V. A. (Tennessee
Valley Authority) projects one million
cubic yards of earth were excavated in
18 months, D. V. C engineers and wor-
kers achieved the record figure of 1 200,000
cubic yards during a period of seven
months, a ‘‘commendable feat” conside-
ring the limited extent of mechanization
as compared to that at the Norris Dam.
Mr. Komora is confident that but for
delays on account of the arrival of im-
ported material, the D. V. C projects
would be completed as per schedule
within the estimated amount of Its.
89 crores.

Panchet Hill

About 17 miles south of Maithon,

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