Waterfalls and Dams
Waterfalls and Dams
Waterfalls occur wherever a river steps down from one plateau level to the next, which is why Jharkhand has so many. Dams on the same rivers were built for flood control, power and irrigation, beginning with the Damodar Valley Corporation in 1948.
Highest waterfall — Lodh, about 143 m, Latehar | DVC founded — 7 July 1948
Main waterfalls
| Waterfall | River | District | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lodh | Burha | Latehar | About 143 m; highest in the state |
| Hundru | Subarnarekha | Ranchi | About 98 m; best known fall |
| Dassam | Kanchi | Ranchi | Popular fall on the Ranchi to Jamshedpur road |
| Jonha (Gautamdhara) | Raru | Ranchi | Hanging valley fall with a temple |
| Panchghagh | Banai | Khunti | Water splits into several streams |
| Hirni | Local stream | West Singhbhum | Forest waterfall near Chaibasa side |
| Sadni | Sankh | Gumla | Wide fall on the Sankh river |
| Usri | Usri | Giridih | Falls in three streams |
Why the state has so many falls
- Rivers cross plateau steps between different erosion levels
- Hard crystalline rock resists erosion, so the drop stays sharp
- Faulted plateau edges create sudden breaks in the river's profile
- Jonha is a classic hanging valley fall, where a tributary drops into a deeper main valley
- Almost all falls are strongest in and just after the monsoon
Main dams and reservoirs
| Dam | River | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Tilaiya | Barakar | First dam of the DVC, completed 1953 |
| Konar | Konar | DVC dam, completed 1955 |
| Maithon | Barakar | DVC dam, completed 1957 |
| Panchet | Damodar | DVC dam, completed 1958 |
| Tenughat | Damodar | Built by the Bihar government, 1978 |
| Chandil | Subarnarekha | Part of the Subarnarekha multipurpose project |
| Getalsud | Subarnarekha | Water supply for Ranchi |
| Massanjore | Mayurakshi | Also called Canada Dam, in Dumka district |
The Damodar Valley Corporation
- Set up on 7 July 1948, the first multipurpose river valley project of independent Indiaबार-बार पूछा जाता है
- Modelled on the Tennessee Valley Authority of the United States
- Objectives — flood control, power generation, irrigation and navigation
- It is an inter-state body covering Jharkhand and West Bengal
- Its dams tamed the floods that gave the Damodar its old nickname
- It also anchored the industrial growth of the Damodar belt
Points that get asked
- Highest waterfall — Lodh, on the Burha river in Latehar
- Best known waterfall — Hundru, on the Subarnarekha
- Fall on the Kanchi river — Dassam
- Dam also called Canada Dam — Massanjore
- First DVC dam — Tilaiya on the Barakar
What the dams did and did not solve
- Flood damage in the lower Damodar fell sharply after the reservoirs came up
- Thermal and hydel power from the valley powered the steel and coal industry
- Irrigation gains were larger in West Bengal than in the Jharkhand catchment
- Reservoirs displaced villages, and rehabilitation remains a live grievance
- Silting has reduced storage capacity in several of the older reservoirs
- Industrial and mining effluent has made the Damodar one of the most polluted rivers of the region
मैसनजोर बांध (Massanjore Dam) को कनाडा डैम भी कहते हैं क्योंकि इसके निर्माण में कनाडा की सहायता मिली थी। यह दुमका जिले में मयूराक्षी नदी पर है।
Memory hook — Char DVC bandh ka jod — Ti-Ko-Mai-Pan: Tilaiya, Konar, Maithon, Panchet. Aur do prapat — Lodh sabse ooncha, Hundru sabse prasiddh.
Yahan confuse hote hain — Sabse ooncha aur sabse prasiddh prapat alag hain.
✗ Hundru is the highest waterfall of Jharkhand | ✓ Lodh is the highest at about 143 m; Hundru is about 98 m
✗ Tenughat DVC ka bandh hai | ✓ Tenughat Bihar sarkar ne banaya tha, DVC ke bahar
Exam pointer — JSSC CGL, JKCE aur JTET me prapat-nadi-zila ka matching seedha aata hai — guaranteed number. JPSC me DVC ka uddeshya, uska inter-state swaroop aur Subarnarekha pariyojana Mains me aate hain. Do table rat lo, ye topic khatam.
Ek nazar me
- Lodh — highest fall, about 143 m, Burha river, Latehar
- Hundru — about 98 m, Subarnarekha, Ranchi
- Dassam — Kanchi river | Jonha — Raru river
- Panchghagh — Khunti | Sadni — Sankh, Gumla
- DVC founded 7 July 1948
- Modelled on the Tennessee Valley Authority
- DVC dams — Tilaiya, Konar, Maithon, Panchet
- Tenughat built by the Bihar government in 1978
- Chandil and Getalsud on the Subarnarekha
- Massanjore on the Mayurakshi, also called Canada Dam