THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY May 11, 1957 Pilgrimage to River Valleys R P Aiyer

AMONG the projects being- zone of Asansol and Kulti. The it by the road from Konar at engineered in our country completed Maithon dam is await­ dusk. The mural mosaic on for the benefit of the people, the ing the commissioning of the the walls as one entered the Damodar Valley Project has no first of the three 20 MW Fran­ power station offered a fitting parallel, considering its extent cis Turbine driven generating setting to an installation which and multifarious activities. So units, which is anticipated about struck one as orderly and neat says a pamphlet issued by the July 1957. The dam will have by any standards. The Boka­ Damodar Valley Corporation. an installed capacity of 60,000 ro thermal station is already These claims are best tested by kW and is also designed to pro­ big but with the proposed addi­ a visit to the Valley with its vide water for irrigation. tion of a fourth unit of 75 MW many installations, and such an The nearby Panchet Hill Dam (making a total of 225 MW) opportunity was afforded to the site where work over the earth­ the station would become a writer last month through the en dam was being rushed bigger undertaking. good offices of the D V C through mechanically, presented Question Marks authorities. This was followed a spectacle of purposeful acti­ Back again to Calcutta co­ by a visit to the Hirakud Pro­ vity. This project has the be­ vering a distance of about 250 ject in Orissa, where the project nefit of experience gained in miles at one stretch, the mono­ authorities did all they could to early accomplishments and this tony of the Chota Nagpur make the tour very interesting. will be reflected in greater turn­ landscape stirred in oneself Commencing the journey to over of work. misgivings one felt on certain the Valley from Calcutta at Tilaya, Konar and Bokaro aspects of the D V C project dawn, one quickly leaves behind Tilaya on the next lap of the which had registered in the the outskirts of the giant metro­ journey is a picturesque spot. mind earlier. polis and speeds along the Grant The hydro-electric station at­ Is the Tilaya Project costing Trunk Road to witness the tached to the site has the small­ about Rs 3.5 crores justified in canal and navigations systems est capacity (4000 kW) in the relation to the meagre power incidental to the Durgapur D V C System. Nevertheless, capacity of 400 kW? Is an Barrage situated on the Damo­ the project is not without underground power station at dar about 90 miles from Cal­ merits. As a flood regulator, Maithon, with its extra cost, cutta. Then on to the barrage the Tilaya reservoir has some really justified on the score of itself, one sees the core of the part to play and so why not tap bigger head alone? Could not D V C Irrigation system with the available power, even though greater co-ordination in plan­ one canal designed to be navi­ it is small? The reservoir site ning have avoided the labour gable, which will connect the also offers an ideal holiday and money spent on the unfini­ coal mining areas around Rani- centre, especially to the work­ shed power station work at ganj with the Hooghly, about ers in the nearby coal and mica Konar and now to be abandon­ 35 miles above Calcutta. fields. ed? These questions, inevitable Durgapur From Tilaya to Konar, via in any large-scale planning, however, do not lessen the glow The Durgapur Barrage was Hazaribagh, the national park of D V C's achievements. formally inaugurated in August, with its wild game sanctuary 1955. The associated canal offers a pleasing sight. The In assessing the economics of works are nearing completion, reservoir created by the Konar an integrated River Valley Pro­ but with the work so far done, dam, formally declared open ject, essentially conceived as it is possible to supply water on 15th December, 1955, now a project to tame the turbulant for irrigating 150,000 acres. serves to provide cooling water Damodar and its tributaries, One could see Durgapur, as the for the Bokaro thermal station, one should give sufficient weight- site for one of the three Steel situated a few miles down­ age to evil effects of the Projects planned during the stream. The project visualises periodic devastation which the Second Five Year Plan and irrigating over 100,000 acres of wayward Damodar inflicts on other industrial enterprises pul­ land with the possibility of a the people of the Valley. Escape sating with activity. The Se­ hydro-electric station of about from this terror alone would cond Thermal Plant of the 40,000 kW. There were no justify the gigantic expenditure D V C visualised in the Durga­ indications of work on the on the civil works in damming pur area with its ultimate capa­ hydro-electric station and work the river system at crucial city of 225 MW is an indication on the originally projected points. If the incidental po­ that the D V C authorities are underground power station has wer available is sizeable, as it aware of the potential power been abandoned. is in the system, that will be load in the area. added justification for the pro­ The Bokaro thermal station ject. From Durgapur to Maithon with its present capacity of and Panchet Hill dam sites one 150.000 kW presented a glitter­ Speaking of power from the passes through the industrial ing spectacle as one approached D V C System, the thermal 609 May 11, 1957 THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY component, high as it is, will culous planning have obviated gress as it did according to dominate the output and in the decision to abandon the informed quarters during the the process make the project bund at Chiplima? Could com­ last monsoon. pay its way. And so, power pelling considerations of priori­ Both the D V C and Hirakud utilization has received equal ties justify building of the 175 projects have had, and are attention as planning, and this mile long i32 kV line to Cuttack having, their fair share of the is well reflected in the commi­ at this stage? Has enough problems which any dynamic ssioning of the Howrah Sub­ attention been given to educa­ scheme will be faced with. Even station for feeding power into ting the peasants to use the a fleeting glimpse of what has the Calcutta System, an instance precious water's of the Canal happened and is happening in of fruitful co-operation between System now running largely the valleys could not but leave the D V C and the private to waste? These questions, the impression in one's mind sector. however, do not minimise the about the inherent soundness of Hirakud importance of the project. The the schemes. The most encou­ The Hirakud Project in Ori- all-important consideration was raging aspect is that the vari­ ssa has had more than its share that the Mahanadi had to be ous projects in the two schemes of trials and tribulations and harnessed and regulated so as are manned by able and devoted as one approached the "longest to lift the gloom which the —nay even dedicated—person­ dam in the world" across the river's periodical turbulance nel. The labours and the Mahanadi, the yastness of the caused on the people inhabiting vision of the planners have Scheme unfolded itself. The the basin. Although the Hira- given to the respective regions dam has consumed 050 million kud dam will but impound about the means for attaining pros­ cubic feet of earth and 40 mil­ 1 7th of the Mahanadi's mon­ perity and it is for the people lion cubic feet of concrete and soon flood, that crucial 1 7th as well as for the operating masonry. The reservoir' has an might well tilt the balance authorities to make such hopes area of 288 sq miles, and the between devastation and pro­ real without loss of time. shore line runs to over 400 miles with a water' capacity of 6.6 mil­ lion acre feet. These are im­ pressive figures. The main dam will have 3 sets of 37,000 kW each and 2 sets of 24,000 kW each. One set of 24,000 kW has been in commission for some time and work was pro­ ceeding on others. The switch­ yard beneath the dam and the transmission system were near­ ly ready. The lower power house at Chiplima, 17 miles down the river will add 3 sets of 24,000 kW to power produc­ tion, and work on the power channel was proceeding. A ride along the dam rewar­ ds one with an impressive pano­ ramic view, and part of the irrigation canals which have already been completed, gives a peep into the benefit which the peasant will derive by way of perennial water for augment­ ing food production. Flood Protection After a gruelling journey over the dam site and the Canal system and another spurt of 175 miles by jeep to Cuttack, one could dilate upon the impre­ ssions of the project. As in the case of D V C a number of question marks about the Hirakud Project came up in one's mind. Had there been less drive and enterprise in the earlier days of the project, amply made good in the final stages? Could not more meti­