Krishna

« Go Back

Hydrological Observation Stations Map

The Krishna Basin extends over Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka having a total area of 2,58,948 Sq.km which is nearly 8% of the total geographical area of the country. The basin has a maximum length and width of about 701 km and 672 km and lies between 73°17’ to 81°9’ east longitudes and 13°10’ to 19°22’ north latitudes. It is bounded by Balaghat range on the north, by the Eastern Ghats on the south and the east and by the Western Ghats on the west. The Krishna River rises from the Western Ghats near Jor village of Satara district of Maharashtra at an altitude of 1,337 m just north of Mahabaleshwar. The total length of river from origin to its outfall into the Bay of Bengal is 1,400 km. Its principal tributaries joining from right are the Ghatprabha, the Malprabha and the Tungabhadra whereas those joining from left are the Bhima, the Musi and the Munneru are joining the river from left. The major part of basin is covered with agricultural land accounting to 75.86% of the total area and 4.07% of the basin is covered by water bodies. The basin spreads over 56 parliamentary constituencies (2009) comprising 23 of Andhra Pradesh, 18 of Karnataka, and 15 of Maharashtra.

The geology of the Krishna basin is dominated in the northwest by the Deccan Traps, in the central part by unclassified crystallines, and in the east by the Cuddapah Group. The Dharwars (southwest central) and the Vindhian (east central) form a significant part of the outcrops within the unclassified crystallines. Krishna delta is predominantly formed by Pleistocene to recent material.

• Surface Water potential:78.1 km³
• Ground Water potential:26.41 km³

Krishna river rises in the Western Ghats at an elevation of about 1337 m. just north of Mahabaleswar, about 64 km from the Arabian Sea and flows for about 1400 km and outfalls into the Bay of Bengal. The principal tributaries joining Krishna are the Ghataprabha, the Malaprabha, the Bhima, the Tungabhadra and the Musi.

The average annual rainfall in the Krishna basin is 784 mm. The South West Monsoon sets in the middle of June and withdraws by the middle of October. About 90% of annual rainfall is received during the Monsoon period, of which more than 70% occurs during July, August and September.

The pre-plan water resources development in the basin was mostly through a few diversion works such as Kurnool-Cuddapah Canal, Krishna Delta in Andhra Pradesh and Neera canal in Maharashtra. During the plan period many storage and diversion projects were taken up and completed. Important among them are Tungabhadra, Ghataprabha, Nagarjunasagar, Malaprabha, Bhima, Bhadra and Telgu Ganga.

The Krishna Water Dispute Tribunal has allocated the 75% dependable flow of 58.3 cubic km of Krishna Water among the basin States as under:

By separate agreements each State has agreed to spare 0.14 cubic km of each of their share in Krishna waters to Tamil Nadu.

The major Hydro Power stations in the basin are Koyna, Tungabhadara, Sri Sailam, Nagarjuna Sagar, Almatti, Naryanpur, Bhadra.

The basin has rich mineral deposits and there is good potential for industrial development. Iron and steel, cement, sugar cane vegetable oil extraction and rice milling are important industrial activities at present in the basin. Recently oil has been struck in this basin which is bound to have an effect on the future industrial scenario of this basin. The major Urban Centers in the Basin are Pune, Hyderabad. Hyderabad is the state capital of Andhra Pradesh and now major IT hub. Pune in Maharshtra has number of automobile and IT industry and is major education centre. Both the cities have long history also.

Hydrological observation in the basin are carried out by the Central and State Governments. The Central Water Commission maintains 53 gauge-discharge sites in the basin. At 13 of these sites, sediment observations are also made and at 24 of the sites water quality is monitored. In addition, gauge-discharge data are available at 80 sites established by the State Governments concerned. The Central Water Commission maintains 9 flood forecasting stations in the basin.

Tunagabhadra is a major inter-States project in the basin. In order to operate the project and to regulate the flows among the beneficiary States of Karnataka and Andhara Pradesh, Tungabhadra Board has been set up under the Chairmanship of Chief Engineer, CWC with representative members from the States concerned.

Some parts of the basin, especially the Rayalaseema area of Andhra Pradesh, Bellary, Raichur, Dharwar, Chitradurga, Belgaum and Bijapur districts of Karnataka and Pune, Sholapur, Osmanabad and Ahmedanagar districts of Maharashtra are drought-prone. The delta area of the basin is subject to flooding. It has been observed that the river bed in delta area is continuously raised due to silt deposition resulting in reduction in carrying capacity of the channel. The coastal cyclonic rainfall of high intensity and short duration makes the flood problem worse.

Krishna is a mighty east flowing river of peninsular India. It is the same river as Krsnavena in the Puranas or Krsnaveni in the Yoginitantra. It is also known as Kanhapenna in Jatakas and Kanhapena in the Hathigumpha inscription of Kharavela. The word Krishna also indicates dark color