biggest reservoir in DVC. It has been designed for flood control & generates 60,000 kW of electric power. It is built on the river Barakar. It has its unique underground power station, the first of its kind in South Asia. The lake is spread over an area of 65 km2. It is . long & high. The dam's mission comprises: flood Control promotion & operation of schemes for irrigation water supply for domestic & industrial use navigation & drainage generation, transmission & distribution of electrical energy. History In 1942, during the course of World War II, a flood occurred in the Damodar valley region that cut Calcutta off from the rest of the country for a period of 10 weeks. Soon the government sprang into action & called Mr. W.L.Voord, a civil engineer of Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). He designed the plan of the dams by 1945. Finally the first dam of independent India came up on July 7, 1953, at Tilaiya. Soon Konar, Maithon & Panchet Dam followed in its footsteps in 1955, 1957 and 1959 respectively. Operation Damodar river is a seasonal river, basically 82% of which is filled up by rainfall in July–September. 1 June to 31 October is the filling period during which rainwater is stored and the stored rainwater is used for irrigation by the downstream areas of Burdwan, hydroelectric power generation and scores of other activities. Maithon Hydel Maithon Hydel Power Station (MHPS) is located on the river Barakar about 12.9 km above its confluence with the Damodar near the border of Dhanbad & Burdwan districts of the states of Jharkhand & West Bengal respectively. The unique feature of this is that it is located underground in the left bank of the river and is the first underground hydel power station of South East Asia. The power station has a total generating capacity of 60 MW with 3 units of 20 MW each. MHPS is located at almost 100 feet below the water level, and is the first of its kind, in South East Asia. After RM&U of unit no 2 of MHPS, its capacity was enhanced and the total Installed capacity of the plant is now 63.2 MW. Reservoir operation A vast hydro meteorological station with VHF/wireless facilities exists over the Damodar catchment area. On a real time basis (hourly, 3 hourly, 6 hourly) data of river gauge, rainfall river discharge are measured