The East-flowing Rivers

The East-flowing Rivers The rivers that flow east to end up in the Bay of Bengal are as follows.
The Mahanadi The 858-km-Iong Mahanadi rises near Sihawa in Raipur district (Chhattisgarh). It flows towards the north-east and after meeting the Seonath, turns to the east and then south-east. It is a large river near Sambalpur, below which it flows through the Eastern Ghats and forms many distributaries at Cuttack before entering the sea. It drains an area of 1,32,090 sq km, about 53 per cent of which is in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, 46 per cent in Orissa, and the rest is shared by Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand.

The Godavari It is the largest river of the peninsula and the second largest river in the country. It is called the 'Vridha Ganga' and 'Dakshin Ganga'. It has a total length of 1,465 km and its drainage basin covers 3,13,839 sq km. It rises from Trambak in Nasik district in the Western Ghats and on its way receives several important tributaries including the Manjra, Penganga, Pranhita, Wardha, Wainganga, Indravati, Tal, Sabari, Mula and Pravara. It is 2,750 m wide at Rajahmundry below which it splits up into several branches to form a large delta before draining into the sea.

The Krishna The second largest east-flowing river of the peninsula rises north of Mahabaleswar from a height of 1,327 m in the Western Ghats. River Krishna, with a length of 1,400 km and a drainage basin of about 259,000 sq km, has Koyna, Malaprabha, Ghatprabha, Bhima, Yerla, Varna, Musi, Panchganga, Dudhganga and Tungabhadra as its main tributaries. The Tungabhadra, the largest tributary with a catchment area of 71,417 sq km, is formed of the Tunga and Bhadra rivers that originate in west Mysore and join below Shimoga (Mysore). The Tungabhadra joins Krishna near Kurnool town after a course of nearly 640 km. The Bhima has a catchment area of 76,614 sq km. It flows through southern Maharashtra and Andhra. Its delta begins to be formed a little below Vijayawada.

The Subarnarekha The river rises a little to the south­west of Ranchi in the Chhotanagpur plateau and flows generally in an easterly direction through Singhbhum, Mayurbhanj and Midnapore districts. It is about 395 km. long and has a catchment area of about 19,500 sq km.

The Brahmani Formed by the Koel and the Sankh joining in Gangpur, it flows through Bonai, Talcher and Balasore districts. The Baitarni river meets the Brahmani just before it falls into the Bay of Bengal. With a course of about 705 km, it drains 36,300 sq km.

The Baitarni Originating in the Keonjhar plateau in Orissa, it drains some 19,500 sq km in the eastern part of the peninsula. The river flows for 333 km.

The Penner Rising in the Kolar district (Karnataka), its chief tributaries are the Chitravati and the Papaghni. It flows through a gorge of Cudappah quartzites near Gandikota (Cudappah district) and enters the sea near the town of Nellore.

The Cauvery It rises from the Brahmagiri hills in the Coorg district at 1,341 m above sea level and drains the Mysore plateau before flowing into the plains. Cascades and falls mark its descent from the plateau. It runs for 805 km and its drainage basin is 80,290 sq km in area. The Bhavani, Noyil, Amaravati, Arkavati, Hemavati, Shimsa and Kabbani are its chief tributaries. The river is small in Mysore. At Srirangam, it divides into the northern Coleroon (Kollidam) and a southern branch that retains its name. The ancient port of Kaveripumpattinam was located at the mouth of this river. About 55 per cent of the Cauvery basin lies in Tamil Nadu, 41 per cent in Karnataka and three per cent in Kerala.

The Cauvery is almost perennial because it gets monsoonal rain from the south-west as well as the north­east streams.

The Tambrapani It originates on Agastyamalai's slopes in the Western Ghats and drains into the Gulf of Mannar. The capital of the ancient Pandya Kingdom, Korkai once stood eight km inland from the present mouth of this river.