Barakar
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Overview
The Barakar is the main tributary of the Damodar. It rises in the Hazaribagh plateau of Jharkhand and flows east to meet the Damodar near the Jharkhand–West Bengal border.
Maithon Dam, built by the Damodar Valley Corporation, stands on the Barakar; Tilaiya Dam is upstream on the same river. The area is rich in coal.
The Damodar was once called the 'Sorrow of Bengal' because of its floods, and the DVC dams on the Barakar were built partly to tame them.
Geography and key facts
- Main tributary of the Damodar
- Rises on the Hazaribagh plateau, Jharkhand
- Dams: Tilaiya and Maithon (DVC)
- Flows through a coal-mining belt
Why it matters for UPSC
The Damodar Valley Corporation (1948) was India's first multipurpose river valley project. Match its dams to rivers: Tilaiya and Maithon on the Barakar, Konar and Panchet on the Damodar system.
Note for UPSC
Main tributary of the Damodar; Maithon dam is on it.
Prelims asks about tributaries, the states a river flows through, its basin and the projects on it, so trace the course on the map.
Asked in PYQs
No question in our Prelims bank names Barakar yet.
Key facts
From the Map Explorer data; positions are for orientation.
In the lessons
- Physical Features and Drainage of India (map lesson)
- Drainage Systems of India: Himalayan and Peninsular Rivers (map lesson)