Tungabhadra River

14th August, 2024 Geography

Tungabhadra River

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Context: A flood alert has been sounded downstream of the Tungabhadra dam in Karnataka’s Koppal district after one of the 33 crest gates of the massive stone masonry dam across the Tungabhadra river was washed away.

Name of the River	Tungabhadra.
Origin	By merger of two rivers called Tunga and Bhadra at Koodli in the Shimoga district of Karnataka. Both the rivers originate from eastern slopes of the Western Ghats.
Drained into	At Sangamaleshwaram in Andhra Pradesh it joins Krishna River. (Largest tributary of the Krishna River).
Length	531 km.
Catchment area	70,000 sq km.
Flows through	Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Part of Peninsular Drainage System.
Tributaries	Bhadra, the Haridra, the Vedavati, the Tunga, the Varda and the Kumdavathi.
Agriculture	Rice, sugarcane, cotton, and oilseeds. It is the life-line of 6 chronically drought prone districts of Bellary, Koppal and Raichur in Karnataka (popularly known as the rice bowl of Karnataka) and Anantapur, Cuddapah and Kurnool in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.
Dams/Projects	Tunga Anicut Dam, the Bhadra Dam, the Hemavathy Dam. The Tungabhadra Dam also known as Pampa Sagar, completed in 1953.
Wildlife sanctuaries and national parks.	Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary, Tungabhadra sanctuary.
Historical significance	The river was an important source of water for the Vijayanagara Empire. Hiriya canal drew water from a dam across the Tungabhadra and irrigated the cultivated valley that separated the “sacred centre” from the “urban core”. Devaraya I of Vijayanagara Empire constructed a large dam across Tungabhadra River and canalcum-aqueduct several kilometres long from the river to the capital city. The city of Hampi, which was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire, was located on the banks of the river, other ancient temples and monuments, including the Virupaksha Temple and the Vijaya Vittala Temple.
Threat to the river	Rapid urbanization and industrialization, Mining.

Tungabhadra River Board

The Tungabhadra Board is a Statutory Body constituted by the President of India.

Tungabhadra Board is an Interstate Project of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana States.

The Board consists of Chairman appointed by Government of India and 4 other members from Government of India, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana.

The major functions of the Board are regulation of supplies of water to the States of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana in accordance to the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal award.

Board conducts its meetings once in 6 months and resolve the issues put forth before it.

List of Important Cities on Rivers banks

City	State	River
Agra	Uttar Pradesh	Yamuna
Ahmedabad	Gujarat	Sabarmati
Allahabad	Uttar Pradesh	Confluence of Ganga, Saraswati, and Yamuna
Ayodhya	Uttar Pradesh	Sarayu
Badrinath	Uttarakhand	Alaknanda
Bhagalpur	Bihar	Ganga
Bangalore	Karnataka	Vrishabhavathi
Bareilly	Uttar Pradesh	Ram Ganga
Cuttack	Odisha	Mahanadi
Chennai	Tamil Nadu	Adyar
Coimbatore	Tamil Nadu	Noyyal
Delhi	Delhi	Yamuna
Dibrugarh	Assam	Brahmaputra
Ferozpur	Punjab	Satluj
Gaya	Bihar	Falgu
Gwalior	Madhya Pradesh	Chambal
Guwahati	Assam	Brahmaputra
Haridwar	Uttarakhand	Ganga
Hyderabad	Telangana	Musi
Jabalpur	Madhya Pradesh	Narmada
Jamshedpur	Jharkhand	Subarnarekha
Jaunpur	Uttar Pradesh	Gomti
Kanpur	Uttar Pradesh	Ganga
Kolkata	West Bengal	Hooghly
Kurnool	Andhra Pradesh	Tungabhadra
Kota	Rajasthan	Chambal
Lucknow	Uttar Pradesh	Gomti
Ludhiana	Punjab	Sutlej
Mathura	Uttar Pradesh	Yamuna
Nasik	Maharashtra	Godavari
Pandharpur	Maharashtra	Bhima
Patna	Bihar	Ganga
Panaji	Goa	Mandavi
Rourkela	Odisha	Brahmani
Sambalpur	Odisha	Mahanadi
Surat	Gujarat	Tapti
Srinagar	Jammu and Kashmir	Jhelum
Tirucharapalli	Tamil Nadu	Kaveri
Ujjain	Madhya Pradesh	Shipra
Varanasi	Uttar Pradesh	Ganga
Vadodara	Gujarat	Vishwamitri, Mahi, Narmada
Vijayawada	Andhra Pradesh	Krishna

Source

https://aciwrm.karnataka.gov.in/storage/pdf-files/Brochures/BROCHURE_2019_River_Basin_Profile_Down.pdf

https://www.nativeplanet.com/travel-guide/origin-tungabhadra-river-hampi-and-her-heritage-007972.html

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/tungabhadra-dam-gate-swept-away-karnataka-flood-alert-d-k-shivakumar-dam-repair-work-9510416/

https://jalshakti-dowr.gov.in/tungabhadra-board/

PRACTICE QUESTION

Consider the following statements.

Pandharpur is a city on the banks of Chandrabhaga River in Maharashtra.
Tiruchirappalli is situated on the banks of Tungabhadra River.
Hampi is located on the bank of the Cauvery River.

How many of the above statement/s is/are correct?

Only one
Only two
All three
None

Answer A

Statement 1 is incorrect

It is a major holy place in Maharashtra and it is also called South Kashi (Dakshin Kashi) in Maharashtra. It is famous for the Lord Vitthala temple situated on the bank of Bhima river. Bhima river is also known as Chandrabhaga as it takes shape like crescent moon near the town and hence gets the name.

Statement 2 is incorrect

It is situated on the banks of river Cauvery. It is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The famous Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple is located in Tiruchirappalli.

Statement 3 is correct

It was the capital of the Vijayanagara kingdom and is located on the bank of the Tungabhadra River. Hampi is located in Karnataka. Many famous temples like Virupaksha Temple, Nandi Statue etc are located in Hampi.

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