Krishna and Godavari Basin Organization
About the Basin
Godavari Basin
Physiography
Godavari basin extends over an area of 312812 sq. km which is nearly 9.5% of the total geographical area of the country. It is bounded on the north by the Satmala Hills, the Ajanta Range and the Mahadeo Hills, on the east and south by the Eastern Ghats and on the west by the Western Ghats. The basin lies in the States of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Karnataka. The State-wise distribution of the drainage area is given below:
| State | Drainage area (sq. km.) |
| Maharashtra | 152199 |
| Andhra Pradesh | 73201 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 65255 |
| Orissa | 17752 |
| Karnataka | 4405 |
| Total | 312812 |
Except the hills along the boundary of the basin including the Sahyadri range of the Western Ghats, the entire drainage area comprises rolling and undulating country. It consists of large undulating plains divided by low flat-topped hill ranges. A wide belt of river borne alluvium form the delta of the basin. The important soil types found in the basin are black soils, red soils, laterites and lateritic soils, alluvium, mixed soils and saline and alkaline soils. The culturable area in the basin is about 18.93 M ha which is 9.7% of the total culturable area of the country.
River System
Godavari river rises near Nasik in Maharashtra at an elevation of about 1067 m and flows for a length of about 1465 km before outfalling in to the Bay of Bengal. The principal tributaries of the river are the Pravara, the Purna, the Manjra, the Penganga, the Wardha, the Wainganga, the Indravati and the Kolab. Click for basin map showing the river system and other features .
Hydropower Potential
As per latest assessment, the hydroelectric power potential of the basin is 5091 M W at 60% load factor. A large part of the potential remains to be developed.
CWC Network
The Central Water Commission maintains 48 gauge-discharge sites in the basin. At 19 of the sites, sediment observations are also taken. CWC also operates 14 Flood Forecasting stations in the basin
Krishna Basin
Physiography
Krishna basin extends over an area of 258,948 sq. km. which is nearly 8% of the total geographical at the country. It is bounded on the north by the range separating it from the Godavari basin, on the soutl east by the Eastern Ghats and on the west by the Western Ghats. The basin lies in the States of Kama Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. The State-wise distribution of drainage area is given below:
| State | Drainage area (sq. km.) |
| Karnataka | 113271 |
| Andhra Pradesh | 76252 |
| Maharashtra | 69425 |
| Total | 258948 |
Most part of this basin comprises rolling and undulating country except the western border whi formed by an unbroken line of ranges of the Western Ghats. The important soil types found in the basi black soils, red soils, laterite and lateritic soils, aluvium, mixed soil, red and black soil and saline and alk soils. The culturable area in the basin is about 20.3 M.ha which is 10.4% of the total culturable ara c country.
River System
Krishna river rises in the Western Ghats at an elevation of about 1337 m. just north of Mahabaleswar, 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.
Hydropower Potential
As per latest assessment, the hydroelectric power potential of the basin is 2997 MW at 60% load factor
CWC Network
The Central Water Commission maintains 52 gauge-discharge sites in the basin. At 21 of these sites, sediment observations are also made and at 24 of the sites water quality is monitored. The Central Water Commiss maintains 6 flood forecasting stations in the basin.
Existing Organisation
Tungabhadra is a major inter-State project in the basin. In order to operate the project and to regulate flows among the beneficiary States of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, Tungabhadra Board has been set under the Chairmanship of Chief Engineer, CWC with representative members from the States concern