Ghaghara

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Ghaghara" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (June 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this template message )

Karnali Karnali Sarayu Mapcha Tsangpo
Karnali river in Nepal
Map showing the Karnali, Ghaghara and Gandaki tributaries of the Ganges
Location
Country	China (Tibet Autonomous Region), Nepal, India
Physical characteristics
Source	Mapchachungo Glacier
• location	Tibet , China
• elevation	3,962 m (12,999 ft)
Mouth	Ganges
• location	Revelganj, Bihar, India
• coordinates	25°45′11″N 84°39′59″E / 25.75306°N 84.66639°E / 25.75306; 84.66639
Length	1,080 km (670 mi)
Basin size	127,950 km2 (49,400 sq mi)
Discharge
• average	2,990 m3/s (106,000 cu ft/s)
Discharge
• location	Nepal
• average	1,369 m3/s (48,300 cu ft/s)
Basin features
Tributaries
• left	Sarda, Budhi Ganga

The Karnali River, called Ghaghara River in

The Karnali rises in the northern slopes of the Himalayas in

Karnali River exposes the oldest part of the Sivalik Hills of Nepal. The remnant magnetization of siltstones and sandstones in this group suggests a depositional age of between 16 million and 5.2 million years.^[4]

Basin

The Karnali River Basin lies between the mountain ranges of Dhaulagiri in Nepal and Nanda Devi in Uttarakhand. Dhaulagiri II, elevation 7,751 metres (25,430 ft), is the highest point of the entire basin. In the north, it lies in the rain shadow of the Himalayas. The basin formed by the river has a total catchment area of 127,950 square kilometres (49,400 sq mi), of which 45 percent is in India.^[5]

Tributaries

Chhoti Gandak is a groundwater-fed meandering river originating near Dhesopool, Maharajganj district of Uttar Pradesh. It travels a distance of about 250 kilometres (160 mi) and joins Ghaghara near Guthani, Siwan district of Bihar. The Chhoti Gandak River Basin is located between 26°00' to 27°20' N latitude and 83°30' to 84°15' E longitude. Right bank tributaries are Khekhra, Hirna, Jethan, Maun, Duhari, Kanchi and Koilar rivers; Khanua river joins from the left bank. The discharge of Chhoti Gandak is mainly controlled by rain, which is very high during the monsoon season and low during the summers. It has been observed that whenever precipitation is high in the catchment areas, there is flood in the downstream part of the Chhoti Gandak River Basin. The region exhibits upland terrace surface, river valley terrace surface, present-day river channel with narrow flood plains, natural levee, and point-bar deposits. All these geomorphic features are depositional in nature and made up of alluvium of different ages.^[6][7][8][9]

The main tributaries of the Karnali are Seti and Bheri.^[10]

Administrative zones and districts

In Nepal, the Karnali Province is the largest zone with about 5,000 square miles (13,000 km²) area. Its administrative center is Jumla. The zone is divided into the five districts of Dolpa, Humla, Jumla, Kalikot and Mugu.^[11]

The Karnali Province has the lowest population density in Nepal. There are no large settlements on the banks of the river, which is only crossed near Chisapani by the Mahendra Highway. This region is now connected by karnali highway and now due to various hydro electricity projects this area is being developed. Now a 900 MW project is going to be constructed in this river

In India, the administrative districts in the Ghaghra catchment are

The Ghaghra River is locally known as "Saryu" or "Sarayu" in the city of Ayodhya.[1]

Protected areas

This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Other protected areas include Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary.

Endangered species

The Karnali provides the upper range for the Gangetic river dolphin (Platanista gangetica), the largest freshwater mammals found on the Indian subcontinent. They are considered vulnerable species under CITES Appendix 1 and are classified as endangered on the IUCN Red List (IUCN, 2004). The river dolphins are legally protected animals in Nepal as endangered mammal and fall under Schedule I of the protected list of National Parks & Wildlife Conservation Act, 1973. Living at the upstream range limit, dolphins in the Karnali River are particularly vulnerable to threats from habitat degradation. Dolphins need deep pools of water. They are often found in places where human activities are most intense and they are sometimes accidentally caught by the local people who live in the lower Karnali basin. The Karnali River supports the last potentially viable population of the Ganges river dolphin in Nepal. These dolphins are at their farthest upstream range and isolated by the Girijapur Barrage (a low gated dam), located about 16 kilometres (10 mi) downstream of the Nepal–India border.^[12]

A high dam has been planned for some time just upstream of the dolphins' current (or at least recent) range in the Karnali River, Nepal. If built, this structure would almost certainly eliminate the small amount of dolphin habitat in Nepal's last river with a potentially viable dolphin population. Disturbance and environmental degradation associated with geotechnical feasibility studies and bridge and road construction for the dam already may have contributed to a decline in the number and range of dolphins or susu above the Nepal-India border.^[13] The Ghaghara is the furthest upstream in the dolphin range.

Other important protected areas and their biological and religious significance are a) Khaptad NP at 2.25 square kilometres (0.87 sq mi), Dhorpatan HR at 13.25 square kilometres (5.12 sq mi), and WR (1976) at Kanchanpur at 3.05 square kilometres (1.18 sq mi) in the Terai Sal.^[14]

Irrigation

India

The Sarda Sahayak Irrigation Project uses the combined flows from the rivers Ghaghara and Sarda in the Girija Barrage built across the Ghaghara river below a catchment area of 45,500 square kilometres (17,600 sq mi). This barrage is situated about 9 kilometres (6 mi) downstream of Khatria Ghat Rly station and 16 kilometres (10 mi) from the international border to Nepal in Bahraich district. It is linked to the

On account of high silt flows during the flood season, Sarda Sahayak supplies (from Karnali) are suspended for 100 days between June and October, when the Lower Sarda Canal (feeder canal) draws water from the Sarda River, which is then flooded.[15]

Navigation

In the past the Karnali River was considered to be attractive for the development of navigation right from the Indo–Nepal border to the confluence of this river and the Ganges. The lower reach of this river—called the Ghaghra in India—was used in the past for navigation by steamers. Apart from in the foothills of the Himalayas where most of the streams were simply fast-moving water throughout the greater part of the year and not navigable when flowing rapidly, most of the rivers with steadier currents had boats on them. The Ganges, the Ghaghra, the

Many trade items such as timber, food grains, sugar, indigo, cotton seed, poppy seed and mustard seed were transported by boats. April, May and June were the most suitable months and were a busy trading period. Different kinds of cargo boats were used on the Ganges, the smaller ones were known as always, while the larger ones were known as Katris.^[citation needed]

In the latter half of the 19th century when the railways came into existence, the significance of waterways as inland trade routes declined, as the railways were faster and safer. With the exception of eastern parts of Bengal where abundance of water in the natural network of channels sustained and continued to provide a suitable mode of transport of goods and people, the railways had almost entirely replaced the waterways as communication lines throughout the country by the end of the 19th century.^[16]

The possibilities for further extension of the steamer services to the north had also been explored in the past. The Central Water and Power Commission of the Government of India had carried out hydrographical survey of the Karnali River from the Bahramghat to the confluence of this river and the Ganges a distance of 446 kilometres (277 mi). This survey was done in the years 1943–53 to explore the possibility of improvement and extension of navigation on this river by powered crafts. These surveys revealed that there were only 5 shoals under 90 centimetres (35 in) at low water between Burhaj and Bahramghat a distance of about 300 kilometres (190 mi). The minimum depth was 75 centimetres (30 in). These depths were available without any river conservancy works. All other conditions of navigable channel such as the width and current of flow etc. were also found to be very favourable. The low water stage in this river is only for a short duration. There is a great urgency to carry out detailed study of the Karnali river to develop modern inland waterway by applying various channel improvement technologies.^[17]

See also

• List of rivers of Nepal
• List of rivers of India
• Battle of Ghaghra

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ghaghara River.

• Ghaghara River marked on OpenStreetMap
• Nepal River Conservation Trust: The Karnali River
• A very short description of Ghaghra River
• Karnali Bridge in Far-Western Nepal