Tilaiya Dam, built across the Barakar River at Tilaiya in Koderma District of Jharkhand, has been one of the most important dams of India. This is one of the four major dams, which was built under the first phase of Damodar River Valley Project with a motive of achieving flood control, irrigation, power generation and navigation. After the catastrophic floods of 1943 the Government of West Bengal took up the Damodar River Valley Project under which a number of dams were constructed on River Damodar and its adjacent River Barakar. Indian Postal Service issued a set of four stamps for the Five-Year Plan series on 26th January 1955, which included one stamp of 1 anna value depicting the Tilaiya Dam.

Purposes of Tilaiya Dam
While the major purpose was to control floods in the region of Bihar and West Bengal, these projects also turned out to be convenient for other purposes like power production, irrigation and even navigation which are equally important for the growth of the state. While originally it included construction of eight dams, this was later on reduced to four dams to be built in places like Tilaiya, Konar, Maithon and Panchet and Durgapur Barrage.

Structure and Surroundings of Tilaiya Dam
Tilaiya Dam, a concrete gravity dam, is constructed on the upper regions of Barakar River. Covering a catchment area of 984 sq. km, it extends up to 64.4 km. The dam is 30.28 meters in height and 366 meters in length. The river site passes through a number of gorges which are 300 ft wide. Surrounded with dense forests and pastoral lands the dam collects the water of River Barakar and receives an annual rainfall of 127 centimeters. With a height of 30.2 meters, it surrenders water with great gravity. This is one of the most attractive dams, the reservoir of which provides one of the most splendid sites for picnic and tourism as well.

Visiting Information to Tilaiya Dam
Tilaiya Dam is about 19 km from district head quarter on Koderma Hazaribagh road. Nearest airports to reach this spot are Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Airport, Patna (165 km) and Birsa Munda Airport, Ranchi (178 km). Nearest railway station is at Koderma, which is well connected to all other major cities of India.