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Godavari

Description

DrainageArea

The Godavari basin extends over states of Maharashtra, Andhra

Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha in addition to smaller parts in
Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Union territory of Puducherry
havingatotalareaof3,12,812Sq.kmwithamaximumlengthand
width of about 995 km and 583 km. It lies between 7324 to
834 east longitudes and 1619 to 2234 north latitudes and
accounts for nearly 9.5% of the total geographical area of the
country. The basin is bounded by Satmala hills, the Ajanta range
and the Mahadeo hills on the north, by the Eastern Ghats on the
south and the east and by the Western Ghats on the west. The
GodavariRiverrisesfromTrimbakeshwarintheNashikdistrictof
Maharashtra about 80 km from the Arabian Sea at an elevation of
1,067 m. The total length of Godavari from its origin to outfall
intotheBayofBengalis1,465km.About64km.fromtheorigin,
the Godavari is joined by Dharna, on its right bank and a short
distance down stream the Kadana joins it from the left. The
combinedwatersofthePravaraandMulawhichriseinthehillsof
Akola join the river from left about 217 km. from the origin.
About 338 km. from the origin, the river receives the combined
waters from the Purna and Dudhna rivers and after a further 138
km. at the border of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, the waters
of the Manjira river joins it from the South. At this point,
Godavariflowsatanelevationofabout329m.TheriverPranhita,
conveying the combined waters of Penganga, the Wardha and
Wainganga,whichdrainNagpurandsouthernslopesoftheSatpura
ranges, falls into Godavari about 306 km. below its confluence
with the Manjira. The waters of the Indravathi join the river
Godavari 48 Km down stream. The last major tributary is the
Sabari, which joins the Godavari, 100 km. upstream of
Rajahmundry.ThelargesttributaryoftheGodavariisthePranhita
with about 34.87% coverage of drainage area. The Pravara,
Manjira and Maner are right bank tributaries covering about
16.14%, the Purna, Pranhita, Indravathi and Sabari are important
left bank tributaries, covering nearly 59.7% of the total catchment
area of the basin. The Godavari in the upper, middle, and lower
reachesmakeupforthebalance24.16%.Themajorpartofbasinis
covered with agricultural land accounting to 59.57% of the total
area and 3.6% of the basin is covered by water bodies. The basin
spreadsover51parliamentaryconstituencies(2009)comprising21
of Maharashtra, 18 of Andhra Pradesh, 4 of Madhya Pradesh, 3
each of Chhattisgarh and Odisha and 1 each of Karnataka and
Puducherry.

StatewiseDrainageArea
(Km2)

SalientFeaturesofGodavariBasin
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Nameof
State

Drainage
Area

Maharashtra 152,199
Andhra
Pradesh

73,201

Madhya
Pradesh

31,821

Chhattisgarh 33,434

TotalDrainageAreaof
GodavariBasin(Km2)

Odisha

17,752

Karnataka

4,406
312,813

Topography
The Godavari basin is bounded on the north by the
Satmala hills, on the south by the Ajanta range and
the Mahadeo hills, on the east by the Eastern Ghats
andonthewestbytheWesternGhats.Exceptforthe
hills forming the watershed around the basin, the
entire drainage basin of the river comprises rolling
andundulatingcountryaseriesofridgesandvalleys
interspersed with low hill ranges. The upper reaches
of the Godavari drainage basin are occupied by the
Deccan Traps containing minerals, hypersthene,
augite, diopside, enstatite, magnetite, epidote, biotite,
zircon,rutile,apatiteandchlorite.Themiddlepartof
the basin is principally Archean granites and
Dharwars composed of phyllites, quartzites,
amphiboles and granites. The downstream part of the
middlebasinisoccupiedmainlybytheCuddapahand
Vindhyan metasediments and rocks of the Gondwana
group. The Cuddapahs and Vindhyan are quartzites,
sandstones, shales, lime stones and conglomerates.
The Gondwanas are principally detritals with some
thick coal seams. The Eastern Ghats dominate the
lower part of the drainage basin and are formed
mainly from the Khondalites which include quartz
feldspar garnet silllimanite gneisses, quartzite, calc
granulites and charnockites. In the coastal region the
tertiaryRajahmundrysandstonescropout.
The western edge of the basin is an almost unbroken
line formed by the Sahyadri range of the Western
Ghatsfrom600to2,100mheight.Ithastheheaviest
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rainfall and the dampest climate in the basin. Hardly

50 to 60 km east of the Ghats lie the sparsely
cultivatedandundulatingplainsoftheDeccan,witha
dryclimate.Theinteriorofthebasinisaplateau,the
greaterpartofwhichisatanelevationof300to600
LengthofGodavariRiver(Km)
1465
m with its general slope eastwards. Great undulating
CatchmentArea(Sq.km.)
312812
plains, divided from each other by flat topped ranges
AverageWaterResourcePotential(MCM)
110540
of hills, are the chief characteristics of this plateau.
UtilizableSurfaceWaterResource(MCM)
76300
The Eastern Ghats which form the eastern boundary
LiveStorageCapacityofCompletedProjects
35434.00
ofthepeninsulaarenotwelldefinedorcontinuousas
(MCM)
the Sahyadri range on the west. They rise from the
LiveStorageCapacityofProjectsUnder
8228.00
plains of East Godavari and Visakhapatnam to the
Construction(MCM)
level of the table land of Jeypore. The northern
TotalLiveStorageCapacityofProjects
43662.00
(MCM)
boundary of the basin comprises a series of table
No.ofHydrologicalObservationStations
lands varying from 600 to 1,200 m in elevation,
77
(maintainedbyCWC)
whichhavewithstoodtheeffectofagesofdenudation
No.ofFloodForecastingStations
betterthantheterraintothenorthandsouthofthem.
18
(maintainedbyCWC)
To the south, lie great stretches of plain at an
elevation of more than 300 m interspersed with and
surrounded by hill ranges, some bare and rocky, but generally covered with forests and scrub jungles. The delta of Godavari
consists of a wide belt of river borne alluvium formed by deposits at the mouth of the river over the ages. The process of
siltingatthemouthoftheriverisstillcontinuingandthedeltaisgraduallyextendingintothesea.
BasinExtent
Longitude
Latitude

7324to83
4E
1619to22
34N

WaterQuality
Basedonthesystematicsamplingofriverwateratmanylocationsinthebasin,itssuitabilityforvariouspurposesisdetermined
byCPCBandaspertheresults,thequalityisnotasperthedesiredclassandBODremainsthemostcriticalparameter.Atmany
places,thedesiredclasswasBorCwhiletheexistingclasswasD.

RainfallpatternintheBasin
TheGodavaribasinreceivesitsmaximumrainfallduringtheSouthwestmonsoon.ThemonsooncurrentsstriketheWestCoast
ofthepeninsulafromWestandSouthWest,meettheWesternGhatsorSahyadriRangewhichpresentalmostanuninterrupted
barrierrangingfrom600m.to2100m.inheight.Beforesurmountingthisbarrierthecurrentsdepositmostoftheirmoisture
onitswindwardside,andthensweepacrosstheinteriorofthepeninsulaontheEasterlycourse.Rainfallisgovernedlargelyby
theorographyofthearea,whichleadstovariationintheamountofprecipitation.IncrossingtheGhats,themonsoonwind
losesalargepartofitsmoisture.ThemonsooncurrentsfollowtheEastwardslopeofthecountryfromthecrestoftheGhats,
whichformthewatershed.Conditionsintheinteriorare,therefore,somewhatunfavorableforheavyprecipitationexceptin
associationwiththedepressionfromtheBayofBengal.ThenortheastpartoftheGodavaribasinalsoreceivessomerainin
associationwithmonsoondepressions,whichmovewestnorthwestacrosstheOrissacoast.
TheGodavarireceivesthewaterfromalengthofabout129km.ofthehighrainfallzoneintheWesternGhats.Theannual
rainfallvariesfrom1,000to3,000mminthisreach.EastoftheWesternGhats,therainfalldecreasesrapidlytolessthan600
mm.ThereisabeltsomedistanceEastoftheWesternGhatsandinwidthvaryingfromabout80km.intheSouthtoabout97
km.intheNorthwithlessthan600mm,ofnormalannualrainfall.Thebeltwhichisabout10,360sq.km.inarea,includes
portionsofAurangabadandAhmednagardistrictsofMaharashtra.Afterthisareatherainfallagaingraduallyincreasestoabout
900mmtowardstheEastcoast.
ThemonthsofJanuaryandFebruaryarealmostdryintheGodavaribasin,therainfallduringthesetwomonthsbeinglessthan
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15mm.Duringthenextthreemonths,uptoendofMay,itvariesfrom20mmtoabout50mm,inmostpartsofthebasin.All
partsofthebasinreceivethemaximumrainfallintheperiodfromJunetoSeptember.TheGodavaribasinasawholereceives
84%oftheannualrainfallonanaverage,duringtheSouthwestmonsoon,whichsetsinmidJuneandendsbymidOctober.
TheIndravatiandPranhitasubbasinsreceiveupto86%and88%oftheannualrainfallduringthesameperiodduetoinfluence
ofthecyclonicstormswhichpredominantlypassthroughthesesubbasins.

Linkedview
*Clickonthehighlightedrivertogetdetails

RiverOverviewMap
(GeneratedUnderIndiaWRISProject)

RiverSystem
GodavaririverrisesnearNasikinMaharashtraatanelevationofabout1067mandflowsforalengthofabout1465kmbefore
outfallingintotheBayofBengal.TheprincipaltributariesoftheriverarethePravara,thePurna,theManjra,thePenganga,
theWardha,theWaingangathePranhita(combinedflowofWainganga,Penganga,Wardha),theIndravati,theManerandthe
Sabri.
S.No

NameofRiver

Elevationof
Source(MSL)

Length CatchmentArea
(km)
(sqkm)

AverageAnnual
Rainfall(mm)

UpperGodavari(SourcetoConfluence)

1067

675

33502

770

Pravara

1050

208

6537

606

Purna

838

373

15579

797

Manjira

823

724

30844

846

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MiddleGodavari(Betweenconfluenceof
ManjiraandPranhita)

323

328

17205

955

Maner

533

225

13106

932

Penganga

686

676

23898

960

Wardha

777

483

24087

1055

Pranhita

640

721

61093

1363

10

LowerGodavari(PranhitaConfluenceto
Sea)

107

462

24869

1208

11

Indravati

914

535

41655

1588

12

Sabari

1372

418

20427

1433

StatusofSurfaceWaterDevelopment
During the preplan period, many storage and diversion projects were taken up in this basin. Important among these are the
Godavari delta system, Nizm Sagar reservoir, Wilson dam, Nandu Madhmeshwar irrigation scheme (Godavari canal) and
Pravaradam.
ImportantprojectscompletedduingtheplanperiodareKaddam,Purna,Pus,Bagh,MulaandItiadoh,SriramaSagar,Godavari
barrage,UpperPenganga,Jaikwadi,UpperWainganga,UpperIndravati,UpperWardhaandamongtheongoingprojects,the
prominentonesareGhosiKhurd,UpperGodavari.
Against the utilizable surface water potential of 76.3 cubic km the present utilization has been assessed as 38 cubic km. The
groundwaterutilizationisabout13%oftheutilizablepotential.
Anumberofinterstateagreementsexistbetweenthebasinstatesregardingsharingofwaterofthisbasin.TheGodavari Water
Disputes Tribunal has not allocated the flows among the basin States, but observed that the existing agreements between the
basinStatessofarastheyrelatetotheprojectsontheGodavaririverandintheGodavaririverbasin,becarriedout.

HydropowerDevelopment
The major Hydro Power Stations in the basins are Upper Indravati, Upper Kolab, Balimela, Jayakwadi, Upper Sileru, Lower
Sileru

UrbanCenter'sandIndustries
ThemajorurbanCentersinthebasinareNagpur,Aurangabad,Nashik,Rajhmundry.NashikandAurangabadhavelarge
numberofindustriesespeciallyautomobile.Otherthenthis,theindustriesinthebasinaremostlybasedonagriculturalproduce
suchasricemilling,cottonspinningandweaving,sugarandoilextraction.Cementandsomesmallengineeringindustriesalso
existinthebasin.

HydrologicNetwork
HydrologicalobservationsinthebasinarecarriedoutbytheCentralaswellasStateGovernments.TheCentralWater
Commissionmaintains48gaugedischargesitesinthebasin.At16ofthesesites,sedimentobservationsarealsomadeandat18
stationswaterqualitymonitoringisalsodone.TheCentralWaterCommissionmaintains18floodforecastingstationsinthe
basin.

Issues
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