Table of Contents
Sarada
Basin Description
The river Sarada, an East flowing medium sized river, lies in the district of Visakhapatnam of Andhra Pradesh. The geographical co-ordinates of the river are North latitude 17°25' to 18°17' and East longitude 82°32' to 83°06'. The basin is surrounded by Nagavali in the North, Gostari, Gambi Ramgedda, Megadnigedda in the East, Bay of Bengal in the South and Machhkund sub- basin of the Godavari in the West. The catchment area of the basin is 2665 sq. km. It rises at an elevation of 1000 m. near Longuparu village and runs a distance of 122 kms. before joining the Bay of Bengal.
River system
The important tributaries are Bodderu and Pedderu.
| Sl.No | Name of the River/ Tributary | Bank | Elevation of source(m) | Length(km.) | Catchment Area(sq. km) | % w.r.t. total |
| 1. | Sarada | Mainstream | 1000 | 122 | 1,577 | 59.2 |
| 2. | Bodderu | Left | - | 19 | 125 | 4.7 |
| 3. | Pedderu | Right | - | 54 | 963 | 36.1 |
| Total | 2,665 | 100.0 |
Climatic Characteristics
This basin is generally influenced by South West monsoon. The average annual rainfall of the basin is around 1000 mm. The maximum temperature in the basin rises up to 42.5°C during May and goes down to 18º C in December-January.
Geology
Deposits of the basin are alluvium, beach sands and laterite soils. Bed soil of clay, sand, gravel and boulders stretch all along the coast except near to Visakhapatnam city. Important minerals found in the basin are Manganese, Quartz, Graphite, Mica, Bauxite, Aluminium and Fire Clay.
