Question

River damodar is called sorrow of bengal. Give reason

Answer 1

Damodar River is known as the ‘River of Sorrows’. It is called so because it used to flood many areas of Bardhaman, Hooghly, Howrah and Medinipur districts.

The floods at times affect the lower Damodar Valley, but the havoc it wreaked in earlier years is still a matter of history.

About River Damodar

• The Damodar river arises from the hills of Chotanagpur plateau and flows through a rift valley.
• The river is highly rich in mineral resources, and also the valley is home to large-scale mining and industrial activity.
• The river has a number of tributaries and sub tributaries, such as Barakar, Konar, Bokaro, Haharo, etc.
• The Barakar is the most vital tributary of the Damodar.
• The valley is called ‘the Ruhr of India’ where several dams are constructed for power generation
• The first dam was built on the Barakar River, which is a tributary of the Damodar river.
• It always caused devastating floods which gave the name ‘Sorrow of Bengal’.
• It joins the Hugli River which is about 48 km below Kolkata.
• The total length of the Damodar river is 541 km.