Godavari River Basin

Godavari River Basin The Godavari river basin is formed by the rivers and their tributaries such as Darna, Pravara, (originates from Western Ghats); Sindphana, Manjara, Manar (from Balaghat Range); Purna, Bhagwati, Dudhana (from Ajanta Range) of the Uttar Maharashtra and the Marathwada regions as well as the rivers like Painganga, Wardha, Pench, Wainganga, Indravati, Pranhita from the Amravati and Nagpur regions in turns meets Godavari river partly in the State of Maharashtra, partly in the State of Andhra Pradesh and partly on these State boundaries. For the study of fishes and Caryophyllidean Cestodes fresh specimens were collected from these rivers. The detailed account of each species was given in Chapter No. 1 and 2. For the study of Population dynamics fresh fish specimens were collected from different localities in summer, winter and rainy seasons. In addition to this Physico- Chemical parameter of Godavari River was also studied. For this study, four sampling stations of Godavari River was selected (Plate No. 3). The water samples were collected every month regularly from these stations for further analysis. Godavari River: The Godavari, with its tributaries, drains the largest percentage of the area of the State. The river debouches from the Sahyadris at Trimbak, 25 km west of Nashik. Like any other river, Godavari also appears graded to its source. From the base of the escarpment, appearing on the eastern face of the Sahyadris, as a result of the head ward erosion of the river, upto Nashik, there is no perceptible slope and its broad and flat valley appears a trickle. A few kilometers upstream from Nashik, a dam, locally called Gangapur dam is built across the river. From Nashik, the river follows a east-southeasterly course. This alignment is slightly disturbed east of 77 E longitude where the river swings and takes easterly course to resume its southeasterly trend once again at Nanded. Leaving Maharashtra, the river follows an easterly course for over 150 km. Western Ghat Region : Darna River : The river rises on the northern slopes of the Kulang hill fort in the Sahyadris about 13 km. south-east of Igatpuri. Though the straight line distance from the source to its confluence with the Darna is only about 50 km., it has a very long and 19

winding course as much and half again of that distance. The bed is wide and sandy, the water flows over rocks. A dam is constructed across the Darna River near Nandgaon village giving rise to the storage known as Lake Beale. On the right bank, the river receives the Kadva and on the left bank, it receives three tributaries viz. Vaki, Unduhol and Valdevi. Pravara River: The Pravara river rises in the eastern slopes of the Sahyadri between the high peaks and hill-forts of Kulang and Ratangad. As it enters Newasa taluka, the waters of the Mula river and the combined flow turning to the north-east falls into the Godavari at the Pravara Sangam near the village of Toka. The total length of the Pravara is 200 km. Balaghat Plateau (Marathwada Region) : Sindhphana : The river rises in the Chincholi hills at the north-western apex of the Balaghat plateau and flows in a northeasterly course past Amalner. The river has a fairly long easterly course upto about Manjlegaon whereafter it flows north-eastwards and northwards to join the Godavari at Kshetra Manjrath. Manjra : The most important right or south bank tributary of the Godavari in Nanded district is the Manjra which forms the district boundary on the south-east for about 40 kilometers, upto its confluence with the Godavari. The Manjra itself has two tributaries, the Manar and Lendi rivers. The Manar, rising near Dharmapuri in Bhir district enters Nanded in a southwesterly direction 3 kilometers south of Malegaon and after passing to the south or Kandhar turns and flows in a south-easterly direction to join the Manjra. About 15 kilometers lower down the course from the Kandhar town near Warwant, the river Manar is, crossed by an eastern dam about 1900 meters long and 24 meters high. Purna : The river rises in the highlands of Gaotala on the north, a mile and a half west of the small village, of Mahon, in north latitude 20 23 and east longitude 75 17. It flows first east, then south-east, then east again for a distance of 72 miles, and then passes into the province of Berar near the village of Chinskhed, 10 miles below Jafarabad. It reenters the district 28 miles lower down, near the village of Wajir, and after a further length of 30 miles passes into the Parbhani district. The river bed is generally rocky and retains the water in jhils or pools all the year round. The Purna receives several large tributaries, the 20

chief on the north bank being the Damna and the Kailna and on the south bank the Arjna, the Girja and the Dudna. Dudhna : It is the most southerly and the most important tributary of the Purna. It rises at the base of the Kinkura hills near Camkheda, and after flowing generally to the mile below the village of Kaundchan. It receives numerous tributaries, especially from the north, where the water shed from the table-lands is more remote than from the Mahadeo hills. The principal tributaries on the left bank are the Kalliani and the Kundalka and on the right bank the Sauki and the Sukna. Vidharbha Region : Wardha : It originates in Satpura Range near Multai in Madhya Pradesh. It is a tributary of the Pranhita river, which ultimately flows into the Godavari River. The important tributaries of Wardha river are Vena river, Bembala and Painganga river. Wainganga : The Wainganga river, which originates about 12 km. from Mundara village of Seoni district in the southern slopes of the Satpura Range of Madhya Pradesh, and flows south through Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra in a very meandering course of roughly 360 miles. After joining the Wardha, the united stream was called the Pranhita, finally empties into the River Godavari. The principal tributaries of the Wainganga are the Garhavi, Kathani, Khobragadi and Potphondi on the western bank and Andhari on the eastern bank. Painganga : The Painganga river is the major river of Yeotmal district of Maharashtra State. It originates in the Ajantha ranges in Aurangabad district in Maharashtra. It flows through Buldhana and Washim districts and acts as a boundary between Yavatmal and Nanded districts of Maharashtra. It finally empties into Wardha river near a small village called Wadha in Wani Tehsil of Yavatmal district. The Godavari basin, occupying roughly half the area of the State, has a number of subsidiary basins belonging to its tributaries. The Pravara and Mula, both originating from Western Ghats in the upper Godavari basin, the Manjra river draining the Balaghat plateau, a terrain higher than the adjacent Godavari plain, and finally the Wardha- Wainganga and Pranhita basins in the eastern part of the state form part of the Godavari basin. Despite its length and a large basin area, the river has not assumed the importance 21

it deserves, mainly because it traverses the dry core of Maharashtra where even the frequent droughts and poor agriculture have not been able to induce the people to harness the river till recently. Water is essential for life and for its betterment continuation on earth, its regular monitoring and assessment is essential. But yet there are numerous aquatic ecosystems in Godavari river of Maharashtra which are remain unnoticed. The water bodies are also affected by different activities of man. Hence in present work fresh water lentic ecosystems are investigated for hydrobiological studies. Considerable work has been done on physico-chemical and biological assessment and their functional dynamics in the aquatic environment. They are studied for seasonal fluctuations and also for the correlation between different physico-chemical parameters and biological features. Both physico-chemical and biological features are affected by addition of sewage. These are also affected by morphological features of water body like width, length and depth of water body, its location, historical background and general physiography is also playing important role in deciding the abiotic and biotic features of the water body. Four different sampling sites which covers most of the areas of Godavari river were considered for hydrobiological investigations. The details of these stations are summarised below. 1) Gangapur dam: It is located about 13 kms. North-West of Nasik city near Gangawadi village, at 20.038675 latitude and 73.679612 longitude. This is a earthen dam constructed in 1954. The total dam length is 3810 m. and maximum height of the dam is 36.57 m. The total gross storage of the dam is 215.88 mcm. And total live storage is 203.76 mcm. The dam has two canals, the left bank canal is 64 km. long and right bank canal is 30 km. long. The total irrigable area of this dam is 15960 Ha. The main purpose of dam for irrigation and agricultural use. 2) Ram Kund, Panchavati, Nasik: It is located at the heart of Nasik city on the bank of Godavari River at 20.007772 latitude and 73.791071 longitude. Many temples and Ghats on the banks of Godavari River made Nasik one of the holiest 22

place. Hundreds of pilgrims arrive here to take a holy dip at the Ramkund in the River Godavari. Ramkund is the spot where the river Godavari turns to right at an angle of 90 degrees and gains importance as Lord Ram is said to have taken his daily bath here, during his stay at Nasik. 3) Kaygaon : It is located on the way of Pune-Aurangabad highway, West bank of Godavari River, at 19.143928 latitude and 77.316985 Longitude. The Pravara River joins to the Godavari River 500 meter away from this station. 4) Vishnupuri dam : It is situated on Godavari River at 19.143928 latitude and 77.316985 longitude. It was constructed in 1974. It is situated 5 km. away from Nanded city. The total gross storage of the dam is 116.28 mcm. and total live storage is 90.76 mcm. Physical Geography General : The State of Maharashtra has an area of 3,07,690 sq.km. This is just over 10 percent of the total area of the Indian Union. The State lies between 15.5 to 22.0 N latitude and 72.6 to 81.0 E Longitude. The present State of Maharashtra is bound by the States of Gujarat and Union territory of Dadra & Nagar Haveli towards North-Western side, Madhya Pradesh on Northern side, Chhattisgarh at Eastern side, Andhra Pradesh on South-Eastern side, Karnataka on Southern side and Goa on South-Western side. The west side of the state is bordered by Arabian Sea. Population of the state is 9, 67, 52,247 while the population density is 31442 km 2 (2001, census). The Administrative and Biogeographic zones of Maharashtra as shown in Plate No. 4. Geology and minerals: The most important geological feature of Maharashtra is the basaltic Plateau of the Deccan. Sykes first used the term Deccan trap in 1838 (Dixit, 1986). The basalts are composed of variety of minerals. Structurally, Maharashtra is a part of the peninsular shield mainly covered with lava rocks, which have been subjected to denudation for more than 30 million years. The archaeans, the Dharwars, the Cuddappah and the Vindhyans rocks are found in Eastern Maharashtra districts (Chandrapur, Nagpur and Bhandara). The Kaladgis with their Sandstones and quartzite are exposed in Konkan (Ratnagiri dist.). The principal minerals found in Maharashtra are 23

coal, iron ore, limestone, dolomite, bauxite, manganese, chromites, clay, copper, silica sand, limonite etc. Forests: In Maharashtra 20.8% area is comprised of forest land, whereas 58% area is under agricultural use and the remaining 21.2 % is under non-agricultural and non-forest area. The actual forest cover is 15.4% of state area of which about 10% is dense forest cover and the remaining 5.4% is open tree cover. Only 0.04% of the state area has mangrove forest and about 2% area has scrub forest. The 4% of the State area is considered as pastures and other grazing lands. The unclassified tree crops and groves on non-forest land cover is 2.7% whereas the fallow land cover is about 3.4% of the State area (Pande, 2005). Zoogeography : Zoogeography is a discipline of Zoological Science, which requires for its study a thorough knowledge of animal systematic and behavior; animal ecology; geography, climatology; paleontology, both past and present.(beaufort, 1951). All the present day continents have been divided into six continental faunal regions (Darlington, 1957) which are as follows: 1. Ethiopian Region: Africa (except northern corner), with part of southern Arabia. 2. Oriental Region: Tropical Asia (including Indian Sub-continent, Indochina, South China, Malaya), with closely associated continental islands. 3. Palearctic Region: Eurasia above the tropics, with the northern corner of Africa. 4. Nearctic Region: North America, excepting the tropical part of Mexico. 5. Neotropical Region: South and Central America with the tropical part of Mexico. 6. Australian Region: Australia, with New Guinea, Tasmania and certain smaller islands. The Indian Sub-continent belongs to the Oriental faunal realm. India has been divided into 10 distinctive biogeographic zones (Rodgers and Panwar, 1988), which are as follows:- 1. The Trans Himalaya 2. The Himalaya 3. The Indian Desert 4. The Semiarid Zone 5. The Western Ghats 6. The Deccan peninsula 7. The Gangetic Plain 8. The North-east India 9. The Islands 10. The Coast 24

The Maharashtra State has 35 districts. The state falls under following biogeographic zones and provinces (Rodgers and Panwar, 1988). (Pl. 4) 1. The Western Ghats (Zone 5) : Konkan Coastal plain (Zone 5a) and Sahyadris or Western Ghats (Zone 5b) 2. Deccan Peninsula (Zone 6) : Southern Deccan Plateau (Zone 6a), Central Plateau (Zone 6b) and Central Highlands or Satpuda ranges (Zone 6e) and 3. The Coast (Zone 10): West Coast (Zone 10a). The Sahyadris or Western Ghats (Zone 5b): Sahyadris, northern part of Western Ghats possessing number of mountainous peaks, forms the Western edge of the Deccan Plateau. High altitudinal mountain ranges run in north-south direction for about 440 km. in Maharashtra State. Sahyadri includes Thal, Bhor, Kumbhari, Malshej, Amba, Amboli and Phonda Ghats. Height of the peaks ranges from 901 m/asl (North of Phonda ghat) to highest peak of 1646 m/asl (Kalsubai). Sahyadri mountain ranges are the main source of all the principal rivers of the Deccan plateau including Maharashtra State. The two major river basins of Maharashtra State are Godavari and Krishna river basins. District falling under Sahyadris or Western Ghats are Nandurbar, Dhule, Nasik, Pune, Satara, Sangli and Kolhapur. During the present study only Nasik district of this zone comes under. Deccan Plateau (Zone 6) : East of the Sahyadris, extends the Deccan Plateau for a distance of over 700 km. from north to south, the plateau exhibits an alternate arrangement of hills and plateaus. The plateau proper shows declining heights both towards the eastern and northern periphery of the State. The Deccan Plateau is dissected by east and south-east flowing rivers Godavari, Bhima, Krishna, Wardha, Wainganga. Their tributaries run along the ranges of hills at right angle to the Western Ghats, in westeast direction. Satpuda range (Mountain ranges between Narbada and Tapi rivers) is the first range, which forms the northern boundary of Nandurbar, Dhule and Jalgaon districts of the State. Second range of hills is the Ajanta hill ranges which lies to the south of the Tapi river basin and to the north of the Godavari river basin. The third hill range is the Balaghat range, which lies to the south of the upper Godavari basin and to the north of 25

Bhima river basin. Last is the Mahadeo hill range that separates the Bhima basin from the upper Krishna river basin. For the present study Deccan plateau has been divided in two regions viz : Cental Highlands or Satpuda ranges (Zone 6e): Districts falling under this zone are Jalgaon, Buldhana, Amravati, Akola, Washim, Yeotmal, Nagpur, Wardha, Bhandara, Gondia, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli. Southern Deccan Plateau (Zone 6a) and Central Plateau (Zone 6b): Districts falling under this zone are Ahmadnagar, Aurangabad, Jalna, Hingoli, Parbhani, Nanded, Beed, Latur, Osmanabad and Solapur. 26