Damodar Valley River Regulation Committee (DVRR)

The then Ministry of Irrigation & Power , Government of India with a view to release water from Maithon and Panchet dams in co-ordinated manner with due regard to the flood management operations and requirement of water for Industrial & Municipal water supply, irrigation and hydropower generation issued a Direction vide no. 14(2)/63-DW-IV dated 29th May, 1964 that in discharging its functions in relation to release of water from the said dams, the Damodar Valley Corporation shall be guided by such instructions as may, from time to time, be issued by the Central Government or the then Central Water & Power Commission or any officer authorised in this behalf by the Commission (Annexure 1.1-I page 87 of the DVRR Manual -2002). One office of CW&PC was opened at Maithon, Dhanbad (Damodar Valley Reservoir Regulation Dte.) in 1964 and day today operation of DVC reservoirs were carried out by the Director, DVRR Dte., CW&PC under the overall guidance of the then Member(Floods), CW&PC, New Delhi (now Member(RM), CWC). Later on after opening of Circle office of CWC, the name of the DVRR Dte.was changed to DVRR & Central Flood Forecasting (CFF) Circle and is presently known as Hydrological Observation Circle(HOC), Maithon with DVRR Secretariat under it. A committee known as Damodar Valley Reservoir Regulation Committee (DVRRC) was constituted under the Chairmanship of Member(Floods), CW&PC (now Member(RM), CWC) with members drawn from the riparian States of West Bengal & the then undivided Bihar (now Jharkhand) and Damodar Valley Corporation. Director DVRR Dte. (now Superintending Engineer, HOC, CWC) Maithon is the Member-Secretary of the DVRRC. The present constitution of the DVRRC is given below:

i. Member(RM), CWC, New Delhi -Chairman

ii. Chief Engineer-I, Irrigation &Water ways Dte. Government of West Bengal, Kolkata -Member

iii. Chief Engineer-I, Water Resources Investigation & Development Department, Government of West Bengal Kolkata. -Member

iv. Chief Engineer, Water Resources Department Government of Jharkhand, Ranchi -Member

v. Chief Engineer (P&M), Water Resources Department Government of Jharkhand, Ranchi -Member

vi. Sr. Chief Engineer(Gen), DVC, Maithon Dam Dhandbad. -Member

vii. Chief Engineer(civil), DVC, Maithon Dam Dhanbad. -Member

viii. Superintending Engineer, HOC, CWC, Maithon -Member-Secretary

The DVRRC reviews the overall reservoir operation of DVC reservoirs during monsoon & non-monsoon season, water allocation for different uses, discusses and takes decision on optimum utilisation of water resources available in the basin, directs to take special studies on different aspects of reservoir operations, improvement of flood forecasting and warning network, health aspects of dams and related structures and water resources development in general in Damodar basin etc. The DVRRC meetings are generally held twice in a year i.e. pre-monsoon meeting and post-monsoon meeting.

The original DVRR Manual was finalised and adopted by DVRRC in its 20th meeting held on 26th April, 1969. The DVRR Manual was later on updated and modified in the year 2002. The day today operation of DV reservoirs on behalf of Chairman, DVRRC is carried out by Superintending Engineer, HOC, CWC/ Member-Secretary, DVRRC following the stipulations laid down in “Regulation Manual for Damodar Valley Reservoirs (2002).