Kaveri River
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Image:SivaSamudram.JPGThe Kaveri River (Kannada: ಕಾವೇರಿ, Tamil: காவிரி, also spelled Cauvery or Kaveri in English) is one of the great rivers of India and is considered sacred by the Hindus. The river originates at Talakaveri in the Western Ghats in the state of Karnataka, flows generally south and east through Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and across the southern Deccan plateau through the southeastern lowlands, emptying into the Bay of Bengal through two principal mouths.
The Kaveri River basin is estimated to be 27,700 square miles with many tributaries including the Shimsa River, the Hemavati River, the Arkavathy River, the Kapila River, Honnuhole River, Lakshmana Tirtha River, Kabini River, Bhavani River, the Lokapavani River, the Noyyal River and the Amaravati River.Rising in southwestern Karnataka state, it flows southeast some 475 mi (765 km) to enter the Bay of Bengal. East of the city of Mysore it forms the island of Sivasamudram, on either side of which are the scenic Sivasamudram Falls that descend about 320 ft (100 m). The river is the source for an extensive irrigation system and of hydroelectric power. It is considered one of India's sacred rivers.
The river has supported irrigated agriculture for centuries and served as the lifeblood of the ancient kingdoms and modern cities of South India.
Contents |
[edit] Mythic origin
The Kaveri may be called by devout Hindus as Dakshina Ganga, or the Ganges of the south, and the whole of its course is holy ground. According to the legend there was once born upon earth a girl named Vishnumaya or Lopamudra, the daughter of Brahma, but her divine father permitted her to be regarded as the child of a mortal called Kavera-muni. In order to obtain beatitude for her adoptive father, she resolved to become a river whose waters should purify all sin. Hence it is said that even the holy Ganges resorts to going underground once in the year to the source of the Kaveri, to purge herself from the pollution contracted from the crowd of sinners who have bathed in her waters.
A different version on the origin of the Kaveri is that when Saint Agastya was performing Tapas, a crow had flown in and tilted the Kamandala he was using. The water from the Kamandala started flowing as the River Kaveri.
[edit] River course
After the river leaves the Kodagu hills, to flow on to the Deccan plateau, it has three islands, Srirangapatna and Shivanasamudra in Karnataka, Hogenakal Falls just before Hogenakal and Srirangam in Tamil Nadu. At Sivasamudra island the river drops 320 ft (98 m), forming famous Sivasamudram Falls known separately as Gagana chukki and Bhara Chukki. India's first hydroelectric plant (built in 1902) was on the left falls and supplied power to the city of Bangalore. Bangalore when electrified in 1906, was the first city in Asia to be electrified and to have electric street lights.
The river enters Tamil Nadu in all splendor in the form of the great falls in Hogenakkal. From there she meanders her way into the southern plains. It is in the composite district of Thanjavur that the rich silt-laden delta region is formed, before she flows on to empty into Bay of Bengal in two places.
[edit] Kaveri in Karnataka
In its course through Karnataka the channel is interrupted by twelve anicuts or dams for the purpose of irrigation. From the anicut at Madadkatte, an artificial channel is led to a distance of 72 miles, irrigating an area of 10,000 acres (40 km²), and ultimately bringing a water supply into the town of Mysore. Near Srirangapatna, there is an ancient aqueduct, the Bangara Doddi Nala, which was constructed by the Wodeyar ruler Ranadhira Kantirava in memory of his favorite consort. It is said to be the only aqueduct where the water from the very same river, dammed upstream, is carried by the aqueduct over the very same river few miles downstream [citation needed]. This aqueduct also served as a motorable bridge till 1964. There are many ancient and modern canals from the river for irrigational purposes. It also serves as the main drinking water source for many towns and villages. The cities of Bangalore and Mysore depend almost entirely on Kaveri for their drinking water supply.
[edit] Kaveri in Tamil Nadu
After entering Tamil Nadu, the Kaveri flows into Stanley Reservoir, and exits the reservoir at Mettur Dam. Kaveri forms the boundary between the Erode District and the Salem district. The Bhavani River joins the Kaveri at the town of Bhavani, where the Sangameswara Temple, an important pilgrimage spot in southern India, was built at the confluence of the two rivers. The Amaravati River joins the Kaveri at a place called Tirumukkudalur near Karur.
Sweeping past the historic rock of Tiruchirapalli, it breaks at the island of Srirangam into two channels, which enclose between them the delta of Thanjavur (Tanjore), the "rice bowl" of South India and garden of south india. The northern channel is called the Kollidam (Coleroon). The other channel keeps the name of Kaveri and empties into the Bay of Bengal at Poompuhar, a few hundred miles south of Chennai in Madras. On the seaward face of its delta are the seaports of Nagapattinam and Karikal.
The most ancient surviving irrigation work is the Grand Anicut or Kallanai, a massive dam of unhewn stone, 328 meters (1080 feet) long and 20 meters (60 feet) wide, spanning the stream of the Kaveri proper. The area irrigated by the ancient tank system was 69,000 acres[citation needed] (280 km²), which by the early 20th century increased to about 1,000,000 acres[citation needed] (4,000 km²) and later drastically reduced after the construction of other dams upstream[citation needed].
The chief 19th century work is the anicut across the Kollidam 2250 ft. long, constructed by Sir Arthur Cotton between 1836 and 1838. The Grand Anicut is the most ancient surviving irrigation work in the Kaveri River Delta.The dam is still in excellent repair, and supplied a model to later engineers.
[edit] River Usage
The primary uses of Kaveri are providing water for irrigation, water for household consumption and the generation of electricity.
An estimate at the time of the first Five Year Plan, put the total flow of the Kaveri at 12 million acre-feet, of which 60% was used for irrigation. <ref>http://planningcommission.nic.in/plans/planrel/fiveyr/1st/1planch26.html</ref>
The Torekadanahalli pumpstation sends 540 Mld (million liters per day) of water from Kaveri 100 km to Bangalore <ref>http://www.bangaloreit.com/html/govtinformation/frms/bwssbfrm.html</ref> <ref>http://www.tce.co.in/infra/watersupply/bangalore.pdf#search=%22halli%20pipeline%20Bangalore%22</ref>.
The water for the Kaveri is primarily supplied by monsoon rains. Dams, such as the Krishna Raja Sagar Dam and Mettur Dam, and those on its tributaries such as Banasura Sagar Dam project on a Kabini River tributary, store water from monsoon periods and release the water during the drying months. Even so, during the months of February-May, water levels are often quite low, and in some channels and distributaries, riverbeds may become dry. [citation needed] Flow generally begins to increase in June or July [citation needed]. However, in some years, rains have been light leading to agricultural distress in areas dependent upon Kaveri for irrigation.[citation needed]
The hydroelectric plant built on the left Sivasamudram Falls on the Kaveri in 1902 was the first hydroelectric plant in Karnataka.<ref name="waterfall">World Waterfall Database. Retrieved on 2006-11-09.</ref>
The Krishna Raja Sagara has a capacity of 49 tmc ft. <ref>http://www.hindu.com/2006/03/26/stories/2006032614180300.htm</ref> and the Mettur Dam which creates Stanley Reservoir has a capacity of 93.4 tmc ft.(thousand million cubic feet)
In August 2003, inflow into reservoirs in Karnataka was at a 29 year low, with a 58% shortfall. <ref>http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/aug03/i3.asp</ref>. Water stored in Krishna Raja Sagara amounted to only 4.6 tmc ft. <ref>http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/aug03/i3.asp</ref>.
The Kaveri, like rivers in general in Kerala, faces many problems, including dry summers, wetland filling, large dams, and pollution<ref>Problems Faced by Rivers in Kerala. All Kerala River Protection Council (AKRPC). Retrieved on 2006-10-16.</ref>
[edit] Water sharing
Water is addressed in the Indian Constitution.<ref>Water in the Indian Constitution. Water Ministry - Government of India. Retrieved on 2006-11-23.</ref> The government has set up tribunals for water disputes. The Kaveri Water Disputes Tribunal was set up in June, 1990 and has not concluded adjudication.<ref>Interstate Water Disputes. Water Ministry - Government of India. Retrieved on 2006-11-23.</ref> Kaveri water sharing has been a major issue of contention between the states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and the union territory of Pondicherry. A central government agency has been formed to look into this issue.
According to a study conducted by the central government in 1972, the utilisation of water from Cauvery in Tamil Nadu was 489 tmc against Karnataka's 177 tmc. Now Karnataka wants to utilise 465 tmc, against its present usage of 312.32 tmc. It is against this background that Tamil Nadu went to the Supreme Court.
The Cauvery Tribunal, in its interim award of June 1991, ordered that Karnataka should release 205 tmc of water to Tamil Nadu during one water year, that is from May to June. It also stipulated a weekly quantum of flow. Karnataka has scrupulously followed the interim order and released much more than 205 TMC of water every year except in the year '95-'96 when the shortfall was merely about 10%([1], [2])
[edit] Points of interest
- Srirangam
- Talakaveri
- Srirangapatna
- Shivanasamudra
- Krishna Raja Sagara
- Hogenakal Falls (meaning "smoking rock"): The spray of the river hitting the rocks is so fine that it appears like smoke
- Mekedaatu (Goat's Leap)
- Tiruchirapalli (Trichy)
- Srirangam
- Karur
- Thambaravarini
[edit] Religious significance
Talakaveri is a pilgrimage site set amidst Bramahagiri Hills in Kodagu. Thousands of piligrims flock to the three temple at the source of the river especially on the specified day known as Tula sankramana when the river water has been said to gush out like a fountain at a predetermined time.
The three major river islands have a strong Sri Vaishnava heritage, with sculptures of Lord Vishnu in a reclining posture on the legendary seven-headed Serpent as the celestial bed (Sheshashayana). These three temples are known as 'Adi Ranga', 'Madya Ranga' and 'Anthya Ranga'.
The Brihadeshvara Temple is located in Thanjavur, not far from Kaveri river.
[edit] References
<references />
[edit] External links
Image:India 78.40398E 20.74980N.jpg  Waters of South Asia  Image:Kannurfort1.JPG
| |
|---|---|
| Inland | Indus | Ganges | Yamuna | Chenab | Jhelum | Brahmaputra | Godavari | Narmada | Tapti | Ravi | Beas | Sutlej | Dudh Kosi | Padma | Sarasvati | Krishna | Kaveri | Meghna | Mahanadi | Son | Ghaghara | Betwa | Chambal | Koshi | Sapt Koshi | Tamur | Mo Chhu | Sankosh | Drangme Chhu | Ganga basin | Ganges Delta | Indus Delta | Dal Lake | Pookode Lake | Skeleton Lake | Chilika Lake | Lake Powai | Borith Lake | Saiful Muluk | Gosaikunda | Nizam Sagar | Red Hills Lake | Malampuzha | Kerala Backwaters |
| Off the Coast | Indian Ocean | Arabian Sea | Laccadive Sea | Bay of Bengal | Gulf of Kutch | Gulf of Khambhat | Palk Bay | Gulf of Mannar |
| Main | Reservoirs and dams in India | Lakes of India | Rivers of India | Lakes of Pakistan | Rivers of Pakistan | Rivers of Bangladesh | Rivers of Bhutan | Lakes of Nepal | Rivers of Nepal |
de:Kaveri es:Kaveri fr:Kâverî hi:कावेरी kn:ಕಾವೇರಿ ನದಿ ml:കാവേരി നദി ja:カーヴィリ川 pl:Kaweri sv:Kaveri ta:காவிரி ஆறு
