Dhadhar

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The Dhadhar river is one of the west flowing rivers in Gujarat state. It originates from the Pavagadh Hills of Gujarat state and flows through Vadodara and Bharuch district. The river Dhadhar after flowing 87 km. receives Vishwamitri tributary from right bank at Pingalwada village 500 m upstream of Gauge and discharge site of CWC. After flowing another 55 km it falls into the Gulf of Khambhat. The total length of the river from its source to outfall in the gulf of Khambhat is about 142 km.

The important tributaries of the Dhadhar river are Vishwamitri, Jambuo river, Dev and Surya river. The catchment area of the Dhadhar basin is 3423 sq.km. It lies between east longitude 72^° 30'and 73^° 45'and North latitude 21^° 45'and 22^° 45'.

The Dhadar basin experiences seasons – summer (Mar-May), Monsoon (June-Sep) & winter (Oct-Feb). The major part of basin comprises tropical wet climate, caused mainly due to existence of the Western Ghats. Due to relatively high elevation in forest land, the area of the basin near the origin of the river experiences relatively cooler climate. Accordingly to Koeppan’s Scheme, the climate of the basin is classified as AWTropical Savannah as most of the peninsular plates, south of Tropic of Cancer are classified. The climatic variations are experienced in the patterns of temperature, rainfall & winds, whether of seasons and degree of wetness or dryness. These are described as follows:

The Temperature is maximum in the month of May and Minimum in the month of December to January.

The basin receives most of the rainfall from the South West monsoon during June to October. Almost 98% of the annual rainfall of the basin is received during this period. The average annual rainfall in the Dhadar basin is 900.1 mm. The South - West monsoon sets in by the middle of June and withdraws by the first week of October. The rainfall is mainly influenced by the southwest monsoon. The effect is most pronounced in Vadodara lying on the windward side of the Western Ghats.

The wind speed data of the Dhadhar basin is given in table -2.4.4. The monthly average wind speed in the Dhadhar basin varies about 1.7 km/h and 6.8 km/h. in the pre and post monsoon period. During monsoon the monthly average wind speed is generally higher than 4.2 km/h. In general, wind speed is the lowest in post monsoon period (Oct-Nov) & the highest in June. The pre dominant wind direction is NE/SE. The wind direction remains uniform from post monsoon till early winter i.e. Oct – Feb. Change of direction takes place in March/April. It is observed at site that the dominant wind direction is from North east and east respectively during post monsoon and in winter changes to Westerly and South westerly.

The relative Humidity in Dhadhar basin varies between 90.1 % to 66.8 % depending upon the season. Humidity is maximum in the monsoon period and is around 90.1 to 73.8 %. In the winter months of November and December, it decreases.

The Late Pleistocene fluvial succession is exposed as 18–20 m high incised vertical cliffs all along the Dhadhar River basin in western India. The major fluvial sedimentary facies of the Late Pleistocene deposits in the Dhadhar River basin have preserved evidence of palaeo-drainage and could provide an important link between the sub-humid Narmada basin in the south and the semi-arid Mahi basin in the north. The sedimentary facies documented include overbank fines, which are associated with crevasse splays. Fine grained overbank sediments are interpreted as having formed by sheet flow of sediments over the banks of minor distributary channels during the flood stage. The overlying thinly stratified fluvial sands and silts, at the top of the exposed sediment succession show a thin cap of aeolian sediments suggesting less intense aeolian activity than that observed in Sabarmati, Mahi and Orsang basins, though a significant reduction in fluvial activity is suggested during the arid phase of the LGM. However, the river may still have been perennial assuming that it retained the larger part of the catchment.

Ajwa tank, Pratap pura, Uma Bhariara, Dhanora, Ghansarva, Haripura, Vadodara, Deo Dam are the medium existing/ongoing projects in the basin.

Water year Book 2013-2014, West Flowing Rivers, CWC, Narmada and Tapi Basin Organization, Hydrological Observation Circle, Gandhinagar, March 2015.