Godavari Basin

The topography, demography, climate, water resources (surface & ground), hydro-meteorology and water quality (surface & ground) of Godavari basin is presented below.

Salient features

• The Godavari Basin is the second largest basin after the Ganges basin and accounts for nearly 9.50% of the total geographical area of the country.
• It extends a total geographically calculated area of 302065.10 Sq. km with a maximum length and width of about 995 km and 583 km, respectively.
• The Godavari and its tributaries are an interstate river system, flowing through the states of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, and Puducherry. The core components of the water network include the river Godavari, and its principal tributaries finally draining into the Bay of Bengal.
• The overall catchment comprises of 8 sub-basins, which have been further clustered into 466 Watersheds each of which represents a different tributary system. The Godavari basin falls in Deccan plateau.
• Around 32% of total basin area lies in the elevation zone of 500-750 m.
• The Godavari basin has a tropical climate. The weather in the basin is cold from mid October to mid-February and the western and the north-eastern part being colder than the rest of the basin. The weather is comparatively hotter in the westernmost parts of the basin in comparison to the central, northern and eastern region. The maximum rainfall occurs during the south-west monsoon.
• Annual rainfall of the basin varies from 755 mm to 1531 mm and average annual rainfall (1971-2005) is 1096.92 mm.
• Annual maximum temperature varies from 31 C to 33.5 C (1969-2004).
• The basin falls in five agro-climatic zones and six agro-ecological zones. Major part (59.57%) of the basin is covered with agricultural land. Forest area is about 29.78% and water bodies occupy 2.06% of the total basin area. Black soils, red soils, lateritic soils, alluvium, mixed soils and saline & alkaline soils are predominant in the basin.
• There are four Inter-basin Transfer links. They are the Inchampalli Nagarjunasagar Link, the Inchampalli–Pulichintala Link, the Polavaram-Vijaywada Link, and the Mahanadi Godavari Link which proposes river water transfer from the region of surplus to deficit areas. National Waterway – 4 is the major waterway in central India. There are 15 wildlife sanctuaries, 14 famous pilgrimage (temple) sites, more than 5 waterfalls, 4 national parks and many more places having tourism values.
• There are several irrigation projects benefitting different parts of the basin.

Godavari river

• The Godavari River is the largest river in peninsular India and known as the 'Dakshina Ganga'. 
• The River rises in the Sahyadris, at an altitude of 1,067 m above mean sea level near Trimbakeshwar in the Nashik district of Maharashtra and flows across the Deccan Plateau from the Western to the Eastern Ghats. Main river forms inter-State boundary between the States of Telangana and Maharastra; and Telangana and Chattisgarh.
• Total length of river is 1,465 km. Main river flows through the States of Maharashtra Telangana, Chhattisgarh, and Andhra Pradesh and finally out falls into the Bay of Bengal.
• At Dowlaiswaram, the river divides into two branches, the Gautami and Vasishta. Between the two, lies the Godavari Central Delta.
• The Gautami branch joins the Bay of Bengal flowing through the Yanam enclave of Union Territory of Puducherry.
• The Godavari River has a drainage area of 3,12,812 Sq.km. The length of Godavari River in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana is about 772 km. The Western Ghats (also called Sahyadri range), form a continuous watershed on the west. On the north, the basin is bounded by the Satmala hills, the Ajanta range and the Mahadeo hills. The basin is bounded on the east by Eastern Ghats and the Bay of Bengal. On the south, it is bound by the Balaghat and the Mahadeo ranges stretching forth from the eastern flank of the Western Ghats and the Anantgiri and other ranges of the hills. 
• The last major tributary is the Sabari, which joins the Godavari, 100 km. up-stream of Rajahmundry.
• The largest tributary of the Godavari is the Pranhita 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 reaches make up for the balance 24.16%. 

Source : Hydrology and Water Resources Information System for India

Related resources

• Godavari River Management Board