A study of water quality of the river Damodar in a stretch of 50 km in Jharia Coalfield region was carried out with specific reference to heavy metals. Sediments of the river bed was characterized for heavy metals, fe, Mn, Cd, Cr, Ni and Pb to determine total carry over of heavy metals in the river body. Industrial effluents have been characterised to see the level of pollution the river receiving. DO and BOD profile study.showed that the most vulnerable zone of the river was a stretch of 15 km in Jharia Coalfield. Organic pollution level of the river was found to be high during lean period resulting high values of BOD and COD. Heavy metal concentrations in the river sediments were found higher in comparison to the river water. Variation in concentration of metals in sediment and water was observed in different stretches of the river. The deposition of Cr in sediment was higher in downstream in comparison to other stretches. The study also reflected that Fe and Mn were irreversibly retained in the sediment and this effect was observed for other metals also in decreasing order of Pb, Cr, Ni and Cd.