Maithon Dam is a major multipurpose dam built across the Barakar River near the town of Maithon, on the Jharkhand–West Bengal border close to Asansol. Commissioned in the 1950s, it is operated by the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) and forms part of India’s first multipurpose river valley project. It serves as a key site for flood control, irrigation, and hydroelectric power generation. Constructed as part of the post-independence Damodar Valley Project, Maithon Dam was designed to manage the seasonal flooding of the Damodar River system, often called the “Sorrow of Bengal.” Completed in 1957, it represented one of India’s early integrated river basin management efforts, modeled partly after the Tennessee Valley Authority in the United States.