Damodar River, Kamarpukur, West Bengal India

The Damodar River originates in the Palamau district of Jharkhand near Chandwa village. The origin of Damodar River is in the Chota Nagpur Plateau region of India. The river flows through the states of Jharkhand and West Bengal for nearly five hundred and ninety two kilometers and then merges with the Hooghly River, which is in the south west of Kolkata.

The Damodar River has a number of tributaries and distributaries. They are Barakar, Konar, Guaia, Jamania, Usri, Bokaro, Haharo, Khadia and Bhera. The Barakar is the most important and the only tributary of the Damodar River. This River arises near Padma in Hazaribagh district, flows through Jharkhand, and meets the Damodar River in Dishergarh in West Bengal.

The river used to flow through Bengal in yesteryears, from west to east course and then it joined the Hooghly River at a spot near Kalna. Gradually, the river has changed its course and now most of the water in its lower reaches falls into the Mundeswari River. The Mundeswari River combines with other rivers and ultimately most of the water of the Damodar River flows into the Rupnarayan River. The residual water flows through the Damodar into the Hooghly, located at the south of Kolkata. Earlier the Damodar River was referred to as River of Sorrow in Bengal as it used to flood the Bardhaman, Hooghly, Howrah and Medinipur districts of West Bengal, which led to huge destruction of life and property. Even today the floods sometimes distress the lower Damodar Valley but the chaos it brought about in earlier years. However, after building the dams this flood factor has become a matter of history.

Pollution of Damodar River is one of the grave concerns of the Bengal authorities. The Damodar is the most polluted river in India today due the several industries that have sprouted on its mineral-rich banks. There are too many coal-based industries that are been build the Damodar valley. Other industries are mostly government-owned coal washeries, coke oven plants, which are the country`s major iron and steel plants and thermal power plants. Zinc, glass and cement plants also cover wide areas along the riverbanks.