POLAVARAM
PROJECT - ENVIRONMENT
News: 892 acres to be submerged in backwater of Polavaram
What's
in the news?
● Telangana has informed the Polavaram Project Authority (PPA) that the floods in Godavari in July inundated 103 villages, submerging 40,446 acres in the State.
Polavaram
Project:
●
The Polavaram Project is an under
construction multi-purpose irrigation project on the Godavari River in the Eluru District and East Godavari District in Andhra Pradesh.
●
The project has been accorded National project status by the Union Government of India.
●
Its reservoir back water spreads up to the
Dummugudem Anicut (i.e. approx 150 km back from Polavaram dam on main
riverside) and approx 115 km on Sabari River side.
●
Thus back water spreads into parts of Chhattisgarh and Odisha States.
● It gives a major boost to the tourism sector in Godavari Districts as the reservoir covers the famous Papikonda National Park.
River
Godavari:
●
The Godavari, also known as the Dakshin Ganga, is Peninsular India's
biggest river system.
●
The Godavari basin spans Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh,
and Odisha, as well as minor sections of Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, and the
Union territory of Puducherry (Yanam), covering around 3 lakh square
kilometers.
●
At a height of 1,067 meters, the Godavari
River emerges from Trimbakeshwar in Maharashtra's Nashik region, roughly 80
kilometers from the Arabian Sea.
●
The Godavari is 1,465 kilometers long from
its source to its outflow into the Bay
of Bengal.
●
In its lowest levels, the Godavari basin
is prone to floods.
●
Coastal locations are prone to cyclones.
● The flat geography of the delta zones causes drainage congestion.
Tributaries:
●
The tributaries on the left bank are more
numerous and greater in size than those on the right bank.
●
Dharna, Penganga, Wainganga, Wardha,
Pranahita, Pench, Kanhan, Sabari, Indravati, are Left Bank Tributaries.
●
Pravara, Mula, Manjra, Peddavagu, Maner,
are Right Bank tributaries.
●
The river separates into two major streams
below Rajahmundry, the Gautami Godavari on the east and the Vasishta Godavari
on the west, and creates a huge delta before emptying into the Bay of Bengal.
● The Godavari delta is lobate in shape, with a circular bulge and several distributaries.
Festival:
The Kumbh Mela is also held at Nashik,
on the banks of the Godavari river.