Rivers of Karnataka

River System of Karnataka

Do you know that Karnataka holds the credit of accounts for about six percent of the country's surface water resources of 17 lakh million cubic meters?

There are seven river basins:
1) Krishna 2) Cauvery 3) Godavari 4) West flowing rivers
5) North Pennar 6) South Pennar 7) Palar




Krishna basin:

Krishna: The river Krishna is an Inter-State river in Southern India. It is the second largest river in Peninsular India. It rises in the Western Ghats, at an altitude of 1,336 meters near Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra, flows from west to east for a length of about 1,400 km, through Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. It flows for about 704 km length in the State.

Ghataprabha: The Ghataprabha river rises in the Western Ghats, at an altitude of S84 meters and flows eastwards for a length of 283 km before joining the Krishna. The river debouches by 53 metres at Gokak Falls in Belgaum Dt. The total catchment area of the river and its tributaries accounts for 8,829 sq.km in Maharashtra and Karna,taka States.

Malaprabha: The river Malaprabha also rises in Western Ghats at an altitude of 792 meters in Belgaum Dt. The river flows first in easterly and then in north-easterly directions and joins the Krishna at Kudalasangama, about 304 km from its source. The principal tributaries are the Bennihalla, Hirehalla and the Tas Nadi. The total catchment area of the Malaprabha and its tributaries is 11,549 sq km., wholly in Karnataka.

Bhima: The Bhima river also rises in Western Ghats, at an altitude of about 945 meters and flows south-east wards through Maharashtra and Karnataka. It flows for 861 km before joining the Krishna near Kudlu in Raichur taluk. The latter 298 km of the Bhima's course is in the State. It has a drainage area of 70,614 sq km out of which 18,315 sq km lies in Karnataka.

Tungabhadra: The Tungabhadra is formed north of Shimoga at an elevation of about 610metres by the union of twin rivers, the Tunga and the Bhadra, which rises together in the Western Ghats at an elevation of about 1,198 meters. The Varada and the Hagari are its important tributaries. It has a drainage area of 71,417 sq.km out of which 57,671 sq.km lies in the State. It flows for a distance of 293 km. in the State.

Cauvery basin:
About 42.2 per cent of the area of the Cauvery basin (81,155 sq km) lies in Karnataka. This basin covers 18 per cent of the State area comprising seven districts. The principal tributaries of Cauvery in Karnataka are the Harangi, the Hemavathy, the Lakshmanathirtha, the Kabini, the Shimsha, the Arkavathi and the Suvarnavathy. All these rivers except the Kabini River, Arkavathy River and Suvarnavathy River rise and flow fully in Karnataka.

Cauvery: The Cauvery rises at Talakaveri on the Brahmagiri Range of Hill in the Western Ghats, presently in the Coorg district of the State of Karnataka. It flows for a length of 320 km in the State. The river flows generally in a south-east direction. The Chunchanakatte Falls (about 20 m) and the Shivanasumdra Falls (about 100 m) exist in the State.

Hemavati: The river Hemavati rises in the Western Ghats at an elevation of about 1,219 meters and joins the river Cauvery near Krishnarajasagar. The drainage area is about 5,410 sq.km and the approximate length of the river is 245 km.

Kabini: The river Kabini has a total course of about 230 km and a catchment area of about 7,040 sq.km. It joins the Cauvery river at Tirumakudal Narasipur.

Godavari basin:
Godavari basin has a drainage area of 4,405 sq.km. Only a small part of Godavari basin lies in the State. The river Manjra is the major tributary of the Godavari and it flows for about 155 km in the State.

Pennar and Palar basins:
The North Pennar, South Pennar and the Palar rivers drain about 13,610 sq.km in the State.

West Flowing Rivers: There are numerous west flowing rivers, chief among which are the Sharavati, Kali, Gangavati(Bedti), Aghanashini and the Netravati. The catchment area of all west flowing rivers is 26,214 Sq.Kms. They are mostly harnessed for power generation. The Western Ghats provides a principal geographical barrier in the path of the Arabian Sea branch of the Southwest monsoon, and is principally responsible for the heavy rainfall over the western coastal belt. The Southwest monsoon season (june to september) is the principal rainy season, over 90 % of annual rainfall is realised in this period.

Ground Water Resources: About 4.4 % of India's ground water resources (2.7 lakh mcum)lies in Karnataka. The total annual recharge of ground water estimated in the state is about 17,99,591 hectare meters(ham). Net annual utilization is estimated at 5,76,921 ham as as on 1991.