Kim

Kim river is one of the west flowing rivers in Gujarat state. It originates from Satpura Hill ranges in Bharuch district and falls in Gulf of Khambhat near village Kantiajal of Hansot taluka of Bharuch district after flowing south west direction for a length of 107 km. The river Kim for the first 80 km.of its course passes through Rajpipala and Valia talukas. For the remaining the river flows in a western direction between Ankleswar and Olpad taluka of Surat district.

The main tributaries of Kim river are Ghanta river and Tokri river. The river basin extends over an area of 1286 sq km of which the catchment area up to the site is 804 sq km. The river basin lies between 21⁰ 19’to 21⁰ 38’North latitude and 72⁰ 40’to 73⁰ 27’east longitude.

Most of the Kim Basin lies in coastal plains near the sea, where the climate is moderate and humid. The month of May is the hottest and January is the generally coldest month of the Basin. Accordingly to Kocppan’s Scheme, the climate of the basin is classified as AWTropical Savannah, as most of the peninsular plateau, south of Tropic of Cancer, is classified. The climatic variations are experienced in the patterns of temperature, rainfall & winds, rhythm of seasons and degree of wetness or dryness. These are described as follows

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 wind speed data of the Kim basin is given in Table-2.6.4. The average wind speed in the Kim basin varies about 0.3 km/h to 7.9 km/h. The pre dominant wind direction is NE.

The relative Humidity in Kim basin varies between 97.1% to 78.7% depending upon the season. It is maximum in the monsoon period and is about 78.7 % to 97.1 %. In the winter months of November and December, relative humidity comes down.

The soil found in Kim basin can be broadly classified into three groups i.e. Lateritic soils, deep black soils and coastal alluvial soils.