TheGodavari (IAST:Godāvarī,[ɡod̪aːʋəɾiː]) isIndia's second longest river after theGanga River, and drains the third largestbasin in India, covering about 10% of India's total geographical area.[5] Itssource is inTrimbakeshwar,Nashik,Maharashtra.[6] It flows east for 1,465 kilometres (910 mi), draining the states ofMaharashtra (48.6%),Telangana (18.8%),Andhra Pradesh (4.5%),Chhattisgarh (10.9%) andOdisha (5.7%). The river ultimately empties into theBay of Bengal through an extensive network of distributaries.[7] Its 312,812 km2 (120,777 sq mi) drainage basin is one of the largest in theIndian subcontinent, with only theGanga andIndus rivers having a larger drainage basin.[8] In terms of length, catchment area and discharge, the Godavari is the largest in peninsular India, and had been dubbed as theDakshina Ganga (SouthernGanges).[9]
The river has been revered inHindu scriptures for many millennia[citation needed] and continues to harbour and nourish a richcultural heritage. In the past few decades, the river has been barricaded by severalbarrages anddams, keeping a head of water (depth) which lowers evaporation. Its broadriver delta houses 729 persons/km2 – nearly twice the Indian average population density and has a substantial risk of flooding, which in lower parts would be exacerbated if the global sea level were to rise.[10][11]
The Godavari River has a coverage area of 312,812 km2 (120,777 sq mi), which is nearly one-tenth of the area of India and is equivalent to the area of theUnited Kingdom andRepublic of Ireland put together. The river basin is considered to be divided into 3 sections:
Middle (between confluence of Manjira andPranhita) and
Lower (Pranhita confluence to mouth).
These put together account for 24.2% of the total basin area.[14] The rivers annual average water inflows are nearly 110 billion cubic metres.[15] Nearly 50% of the water availability is being harnessed. The water allocation from the river among the riparian states are governed by theGodavari Water Disputes Tribunal. The river has highest flood flows in India and experienced recorded flood of 3.6 millioncusecs in the year 1986 and annual flood of 1.0 million cusecs is normal.[16][17]
The river originates inMaharashtra state and has an extensive course. The upper basin (origin to its confluence withManjira), of which lies entirely within the state, cumulatively draining an area as large as 152,199 km2 (58,764 sq mi) – about half the area of Maharashtra.[18] WithinNashik district, the river assumes a north-easterly course until it flows into theGangapur Reservoir, created by a dam of the same name. The reservoir along with theKashypi Dam, providespotable water to Nashik, one of the largest cities located on its banks. The river, as it emerges through the dam, some 8 km (5.0 mi) upstream from Nashik, flows on a rocky bed, undulated by a series of chasms and rocky ledges, resulting in the formation of two significant waterfalls – the Gangapur and the Someshwar waterfalls. The latter, located at Someshwar, is more popularly known as the Dudhsagar Waterfall.[19] About 10 km (6.2 mi) east of Gangapur, the river passes the town ofNashik, where it collects its effluents in the form of the river Nasardi on its right bank.[citation needed]
About 0.5 km (0.31 mi) south of Nashik, the river bends sharply to the east, washing the base of a high cliff formerly the site of aMughal fort, but which is now being eroded away by the action of floods. About 25 km (16 mi) below Nashik is the confluence of the Godavari and one of its tributaries, theDarna. The stream occupies, for nine months in the year, a small space in a wide and gravelly bed, the greyish banks being 4 to 6 m (13 to 20 ft) high, topped with a deep layer of black soil. A few kilometres after its meeting with the Darna, the Godavari swerves to the north-east, before theBanganga, from the north-west, meets it on the left. The course of the main stream then tends more decidedly south. At Nandur-Madhmeshwar, theKadva, a second large affluent, brings considerable increase to the waters of the Godavari. The river begins its southeasterly course characteristic of rivers of theDeccan Plateau. The river exits theNiphad Taluka ofNashik and enters theKopargaon taluka,Ahmednagar District. Within Ahmednagar District the river quickly completes its short course, flowing alongside the town ofKopargaon and reachingPuntamba. Beyond this, the river serves as a natural boundary between the following districts:[citation needed]
Ahmednagar andAurangabad: Along the boundary here, it receives its first major tributary thePravara River, draining the former district[vague]. The confluence is located at Pravarasangam. By virtue of a sub-tributary of Pravara – Mandohol, which originates in Pune District – the basin impinges thePune district. The river at Paithan has been impounded by theJayakwadi Dam forming the NathSagar Reservoir.Kalsubai located in Godavari basin, is the highest peak in Maharashtra.
Beed andParbhani: Located along here is its merger withSindphana, an important tributary[20] which drains a considerably large area within Beed. The sub-tributary riverBindusara forms a landmark atBeed.
The river beyond, near the village Sonpeth, flows intoParbhani. In Parbhani district, the river flows throughGangakhed taluka. As mentioned above, the Godavari is also called Dakshinganga so the city is called as Gangakhed (meaning a village on the bank of Ganga). As per Hindu rituals this place is considered quite important for after death peace to flow ashes into the river.[citation needed]
Its course is relatively non-significant except for receiving two smaller streams – Indrayani and Masuli – merging at its left and right banks, respectively. Within the last taluka of the district Parbhani,Purna, the river drains a major tributary of the same name:Purna.[citation needed]
It then exits into the neighbouring district ofNanded where 10 km (6.2 mi) before reaching the town Nanded, it is impounded by the Vishnupuri Dam and thus with it, bringing Asia's largest lift irrigation projects to life. A little downstream from Nanded, the river receives Asna, a small stream, on its left bank. It then runs into the controversialBabli project soon ends its course withinMaharashtra, albeit temporarily, at its merger with a major tributary –Manjira.[citation needed]
The river after flowing into Telangana, re-emerges to run as a state boundary separating theMancherial,Telangana fromGadchiroli, Maharashtra. At the state border, it runs betweenSironcha and Somnoor Sangam receiving one tributary at each of those nodal points – thePranhita and subsequently theIndravati.[citation needed]
Godavari enters into Telangana in Nizamabad district at Kandakurthy where Manjira, Haridra rivers joins Godavari and forms Triveni Sangamam. The river flows along the border betweenNirmal andMancherial districts in the north andNizamabad,Jagtial,Peddapalli districts to its south. About 12 km (7.5 mi) after enteringTelangana it merges with the back waters of theSriram Sagar Dam. The river after emerging through the dam gates, enjoys a wide river bed, often splitting to encase sandy islands. The river receives a minor but significant tributaryKadam river. It then emerges at its eastern side to act as a state border with Maharashtra only to later enter intoBhadradri Kothagudem district. In this district, the river flows through an important Hindu pilgrimage town –Bhadrachalam.[citation needed]
Within the state ofAndhra Pradesh, the river flows through hilly terrain of theEastern Ghats known as thePapi hills which explains the narrowing of its bed as it flows through a gorge for a few km, only to re-widen atPolavaram. The deepest bed level of a submarineplunge pool in Godavari River, located 36 km upstream of Polavaram dam, is at 45 meters below the sea level.[21] Before crossing the Papi hills, it receives its last major tributarySabari River on its left bank. The river upon reaching the plains begins to widen out until it reachesRajamahendravaram.Arma Konda (1,680 m (5,510 ft)) is the highest peak in the Godavari river basin as well as in the Eastern Ghats.[22]
Dowleswaram Barrage was constructed across the river in Rajamahendravaram. At Rajamahendravaram, the Godavari splits into two large branches which are called Gautami (Gautami Godavari) and Vasishta Godavari and five smaller branches. Similarly, the Vasishta splits into two branches named Vasishta and Vainateya. These four branches which join theBay of Bengal at different places, form a delta of length 170 km (110 mi) along the coast of the Bay of Bengal and is called theKonaseema region. This delta along with the delta of theKrishna River is called theRice Granary ofSouth India.[23]
The Gautami which is the largest branch of the whole passes alongYanam enclave ofUnion territory of Puducherry and empties into sea atPoint Godavery.[24] In fact, Yanam is bounded on south by Gautami branch and theCoringa River originates at Yanam which merges into the sea nearCoringa village in Andhra Pradesh.[25]
A colonial Map of Yanam showing then course of Godavery River.
The Pranhita River is the largest tributary of the Godavari River, covering about 34% of its drainage basin.[27] Though the river proper flows only for 113 km (70 mi), by virtue of its extensive tributariesWardha,Wainganga,Penganga, the sub-basin drains all ofVidharba region as well as the southern slopes of theSatpura Ranges. Indravati is the 2nd largest tributary, known as the "lifeline" of theKalahandi,Nabarangapur ofOdisha andBastar district ofChhattisgarh. Due to their enormous sub-basins both Indravati and Pranhita are considered rivers in their own right. Manjira is the longest tributary and holds theNizam Sagar reservoir. Purna is a prime river in the water scarceMarathwada region ofMaharashtra.[citation needed]
Other than these seven principal tributaries, it has many smaller but significant ones draining into it. Indravati river floodwaters overflow into the Jouranala which is part of Sabari basin. A barrage at19°7′19″N82°14′9″E / 19.12194°N 82.23583°E /19.12194; 82.23583 (Jouranala barrage) is constructed across the Indravati river to divert Indravati water in to Sabari river for enhanced hydropower generation.
Before merging into the Bay of Bengal, the Godavari has seven mouths in total and is considered sacred by local Hindus.[29] As per their traditional belief, the holy waters of the Godavari are said to have been brought from the head ofShiva by theRishiGautama, and the seven branches by which it is traditionally supposed to have reached the sea are said have been made by seven great rishis known asSapta Rishis. Thus, they are named after these seven great rishis[30] and are named asTulyabhāga (Tulya orKaśyapa),Ātreya (Atri),Gautamī (Gautama),Jamadagni (now replaced byVṛddhagautamī i.e. Old Gautami),Bhardvāja (Bharadvaja),Kauśika (Visvamitra) andVaśișțha (Vasishtha).[31] So bathing in these mouths are considered an act of great religious efficacy by native Hindus. These mouths are remembered by a Sanskrit sloka as follow:
(Godavari becomes) Tulya, Ātreyi, Bharadvāja, Gautamī, Vṛddhagautamī, Kauśikī and Vaśiṣṭhaa and then passes into sea.[32][note 1]
Together they are referred asSapta Godavari and the Godavari river before splitting is referred asAkhanda Godavari.[30] However, there exists another eight mouth named asVainateyam, which is not one of these traditional seven mouths and is supposed to have been created by a rishi of that name who stole a part of Vasisththa branch. Godavari was frequently referred asGanga orGanges by ancient Indian writings.[29] However, the original branches ofKauśika,Bhardwaja andJamadagni does not exist any longer and the pilgrims bathe in the sea at the spots where they are supposed to have been. The traditional Bharadwāja mouth is inTirthālamondi (now bordering Savithri Nagar ofYanam and before a Hamlet ofGuttenadivi) and the traditional Kauśika mouth is located at Rameswaram, a hamlet of Samathakurru village in Allavaram Mandal of Konaseema district. Traditional mouth of Jamadagni is not known and people instead take bath in the Vriddha Gautami branch at Kundaleswaram village inKatrenikona Mandal of Konaseema district. There is a local legend saying theInjaram andPatha (Old) Injaram (now on the other bank of Gautami river within Island Polavalam mandal ofKonaseema district) were split by Godavari river. Thus the Godavari passing between these two now referred as Gautami and the old passage being referred as Vriddha Gautami. In early British records, the InjaramParagana (district) was counted along with Muramalla village (now located on the other side of Gautami within Island Polavalam mandal) and said to have comprised 22 villages.[33]
Godavari Statue at Gangadwar, worshiped as origin of Godavari, TriambakGoddess Godavari
The river is sacred toHindus and has several places on its banks that have been places of pilgrimage for thousands of years. Amongst the huge numbers of people who have bathed in her waters as a rite of cleansing are said to have been the deityBaladeva 5000 years ago and the saintChaitanya Mahaprabhu 500 years ago. Every twelve years, thePushkaram fair is held on the banks of the river.[34]
Sculpture depicting govu vatsa and gowthama legend about birth of Godavari River
A legend has it that the sage Gautama lived in the Brahmagiri Hills atTryambakeshwar with his wifeAhalya. The couple lived the rest of their lives in the then village calledGovuru, now known asKovvur ("cow") since British rule. Ahalya lived in a nearby place calledThagami (nowThogummi). The sage, as a reason for the practice ofannadanam ("giving away food" to the needy), started cultivating rice crops and other crops. Once, the godGanesha, on the wish of the sages, sent a miraculous cowmayadhenu, which resembled a normal cow. It entered the sage's abode and started spoiling the rice while he was meditating. Since cattle is sacred to Hindus and treated with respect, he put thedarbha grass on the cow. But, to his surprise, it fell dead. Seeing what happened before their eyes, the sages and their wives cried out, "We thought that Gautama-maharishi is a righteous man, but he committed bovicide (killing of a cow or cattle)!". The sage wished to atone for this grievous sin. Therefore, he went toNashik and observedtapas (penance) to propitiate Tryambakeshvara (a manifestation of the god Shiva), on the advice of the sages, praying for atonement and asking him to make the Ganges flow over the cow. Shiva was pleased with the sage and diverted the Ganges, which washed away the cow and gave rise to the Godavari River in Nashik. The water stream flowed past Kovvur and ultimately merged with the Bay of Bengal.
In olden days a pilgrimage named assapta sāgara yātra was made by those desirous of offspring along the banks of the holy waters from the seven mouths.[35] It starts with holy bathing at Tulyabhaga river atChollangi village on Amavasya during Krishna Paksha ofPushya month as per Hindu calendar. That day is locally referred asChollangi Amavasya. That place where the river branch merges with sea is referred asTulya Sāgara Sangamam.[36] Secondly, they take bath inCoringa village in the Coringa river which is considered as Atreya branch of Godavari and the holy bathing place is called asAtreya Sāgara Sangamam.[37] After bathing at different banks of the other branches the pilgrimage ends by bathing nearNarsapuram orAntarvedi.
Puntamba – A place of pilgrimage with several ancient temples including the last resting place (Samadhi) of SantChangdev in Puntamba. This town is located in Rahata Taluka of Ahmednagar district and 18 km from holy place of Sai Baba of Shirdi. A temple attributed toKartikeya (younger son of Shiva) is located here on bank of river Godavari). River godavari which had entered in kopargaon taluka of Ahmednagar from Niphad taluka of Nashik is the natural frontier between Aurangabad and Ahmednagar districts of Maharashtra onwards until it enters in confluence with river Pravara at Pravarasangam village which comes under Newasa taluka a town where famous Bhakti saint Shree sant Dhnyaneshwar had written critic on Bhagavatgeeta 'Dhnyaneshwari'.[citation needed]
Mukteswaram, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Konaseema district (Sri Kshana Muktheswara Swamy temple)
Kotipalli, Konaseema district (Sri Someswara Swamy temple)
Antarvedi, Konaseema district (Antarvedi is famous for the Sri Laxmi Narasimha Swamy temple constructed between the 15th and 16th centuries. There is also a temple of Shiva that is older than Narasimha Swamy temple. The temple's idol of Shiva was installed by Rama.)
Yanam district (Yanam is an enclave located in East Godavari district, where the Gautami joins theBay of Bengal. It belongs toPuducherry union territory.)
Basar (originally, Vyasara) – Sri GyanaSaraswati temple is situated on the banks of Godavari in Adilabad district, Telangana. It is about 210 km (130 miles) from state capital Hyderabad and accessible by road and rail (nearest major station: Nizamabad, although Basar station also exists). It is considered that the sage Vyasa wrote the Mahabharata on the banks of Godavari at this location near Harsha house it is the beautiful scenario, and thus the place came to be known as Vyasara.
Dharmapuri, Telangana – Hindu Temple ofNarasimha. Godavari flows from north to south in Dharmapuri, hence the river is locally called 'Dakshina Vahini' [South Flowing]
Kaleshwaram – Sri Kaleswara Mukhteswara swamy Temple is situated here on the banks of Triveni sangamam of rivers Godavari and Pranahita. It is 125 kilometres away from Karimnagar city, 115 km away from Warangal city.
Paithan – Saint Eknath's native place, famousJayakwadi Dam, and a beautiful garden named after Sant Dhnyaneshwar.
Scenic View of Araku Valley in Andhra Pradesh
Antarvedi, Konaseema district – Antarvedi is famous for the Laxmi Narasimha Swamy temple constructed between the 15th and 16th centuries. There is also a temple of Shiva that is older than Narasimha Swamy temple. The temple's idol of Shiva was installed by Rama.
Pattiseema – A village where aHindu temple is located on a small hill on an island in the river
Kovvur – A village where cows resided and a place where the maaya-dhenu fell dead. Footprints of the maaya-dhenu were seen even today in the famous place Kovvur called "Goshpadakshetram" also called "Gopadala Revu" where the footprints of the holy cow are seen near the temple of Shiva. Also a village which is the reason for the birth of riverGodavari. It is famous for a Sanskrit school which has been built 63 years ago.
Rajamahendravaram – A city known for its role in Telugu culture and birthplace of writers such asNannayya, one of theKavitrayam trinity of poets who translated theMahabharata into Telugu. It is known forfloriculture, tourism, industries and itsheritage The Godavari Pushkaralu is a major local festival that is staged every 12 years.
Deomali peak located in the Godavari basin is the highest peak (1672 mmsl) in Odisha state.
TheCoringa mangrove forests in the Godavari delta are the third largest mangrove formation in the country. Part of this has been declared as theCoringa Wildlife Sanctuary, renowned for reptiles. They also provide an important habitat to a wide variety of fish and crustaceans. These forests also act as barriers against cyclones, tropical storms, andstorm surges, thus protecting the nearby villages.
TheJayakwadi Bird Sanctuary is another haven for birds located near the town of Paithan spread across the back waters of the NathSagar Reservoir formed by impounding the Godavari by the massiveJayakwadi Dam. Its 341 km2 area is dotted by islands within the reservoir which serve as nesting sites for the birds.[39]
The Nandurmadmeshwar Bird Sanctuary is located along the back waters of the Godavari River nearNashik at its confluence withKadva River.[40] It is known as the Bharatpur of Maharashtra for the wide diversity of bird life that it harbours.
The following are few other wildlife sanctuaries located in the river basin:
Duduma Waterfalls is 175 metres (574 ft) high and one of the highest waterfalls in southern India.[citation needed] It is located on theSileru River which forms boundary between Andhra Pradesh and Odisha states. The following are a few other waterfalls located in the river basin:
Old Godavari Bridge. Construction of this bridge started in 1876, and was completed in 1897. It was constructed under the supervision of F.T. Granville Walton who had constructed theDufferin Bridge over the Ganges, and Granville Mills, both British engineers. Spanning over 3 km in length, it linked the East Godavari and West Godavari districts. The bridge has been a vital link enabling trains to run betweenChennai andHowrah. Trains continued over the bridge for a century until 1997, when train services over the bridge were suspended after the construction of two additional bridges.
Godavari Bridge. Construction of this bridge started in 1970, and was completed in 1974. It serves as both a railway and a roadway between the East Godavari and West Godavari Districts.
Godavari Arch Bridge. This bridge was completed in 1997, was built upstream of the earlier bridges.
Godavari Fourth Bridge. This bridge is the newest. It was opened to public from Godavari Pushkaras 2015. This is a road connectivity bridge link supposed to ease traffic flow between Rajamahendravaram and Kovvur
The main Godavari River up to the confluence with Pranhita tributary is dammed fully to utilize the available water for irrigation. However, its main tributaries Pranhita, Indravati and Sabari which join in the lower reaches of the basin, carry three times more water compared to main Godavari. In 2015, the water surplus Godavari River is linked to the water deficitKrishna River by commissioning thePolavaram right bank canal with the help of Pattiseema lift scheme to augment water availability to thePrakasam Barrage located in Andhra Pradesh. More dams are constructed in the Godavari River basin than in any other river basin of India.[41] The following are the few dams located in the river basin:
Gangapur Dam: This is a large earth fill dam with gross water storage of 215.88 million cubic metres,[42] and located 10 km (6.2 mi) upstream fromNashik city. The reservoir known as the Gangapur Bandh Sagar provides drinking water to the Nashik city and also supplies water to the thermal power station situated downstream atEklahare.
Jayakwadi Dam: Located nearPaithan, it is one of the largest earthen dams in India. This dam was built to address the dual problems of flooding along the banks, during monsoon months, and that of drought, rest of the year, in theMarathwada region. Two 'left' and 'right' canals provide the irrigation to fertile land up toNanded district. This dam has contributed to industrial development ofAurangabad andJalna,Maharashtra.[43]Majalgaon Dam is also constructed under Jayakwadi stage 2 to expand the irrigation potential further inParbhani,Nanded andBeed districts.
Vishnupuri barrage: Asia's Largest Lift Irrigation project, the Vishnupuri Prakalp[44] has been constructed on the river at a distance of 5 km (3.1 mi) from the cityNanded.
Ghatghar Dam was built for hydro power generation by diverting the water of Pravara tributary outside Godavari river basin to a west flowing river which joins Arabian sea.
Upper Vaitarna reservoir was built across west flowingVaitarna river merging some part of Godavari river catchment area. Godavari water impounded in this reservoir is diverted outside the river basin forMumbai city drinking water supply after generating hydro power.
Sriram Sagar Dam: This is another multipurpose project on the Godavari River on the borders of Adilabad and Nizamabad District. It is near the town of Pochampadu, 60 km away from Nizamabad. It has been described byThe Hindu as a "lifeline for a large part ofTelangana".[45] It serves the irrigation needs inKarimnagar,Warangal,Adilabad,Nalgonda, andKhammam districts and also generates power.
The Godavari River in Maharashtra is one of the rivers whose water energy is least harnessed for generating hydro electricity.[46] The 600 MW capacityUpper Indravati hydro power station is the biggest hydro power station which diverts Godavari River water to theMahanadi River basin.[47] The following is the list of hydro electric power stations excluding small and medium installations.
Nearly 2490tmcft of water has gone waste to the sea on average in a water year from 1 June 2003 to 31 May 2022 (19 years). The yearly water unutilized is given below
There is least possibility to construct new reservoirs in the river basin area due to land submergence and displacement of population. However, a freshwatercoastal reservoir, located on the adjacent sea, with adequate storage capacity (nearly 29 billion m3) is economically feasible to harness the remaining unutilized water in the river.[49]
Geology and sediment transfer in the Godavari Drainage Basin
Generalized Geological Map of Godavari Drainage Basin
The primary and initial catchment of the Godavari drainage basin is largely represented by the basalt of theDeccan Volcanic Province (~50% of the total basin area). This is followed by thePrecambriangranites andgneisses of the easternDharwar Craton,sandstones,shales andlimestones of theGondwana Supergroup, various sedimentary units of Cuddapah and Vindhyan basins,charnockites andkhondalites of theProterozoicEastern Ghats Mobile Belt and the sandstones of the Rajahmundry Formation.[50] The Godavari River carries the largest sediment load among the peninsular rivers and the majority of the mass transfer in Godavari occurs during the monsoon.[51] Mineral magnetic studies of the Godavari River sediments suggest that the floodplains in the entire stretch of the river are characterized by a Deccan basalt source. The bed loads on the other hand are of sourced from local bedrock. Influx of Deccan source in the Godavari River up to the delta regions and possibly in theBay of Bengal off the Godavari, therefore, can be related to the intensivechemical weathering in the Deccan basalts.[50] Abrupt increase in δ13C values and decrease in TOC content accompanied with a significant increase in ferrimagnetic mineral concentration in Bay of Bengal sediments from ~3.2 to 3.1 cal. ka BP reflected a shift of organic carbon and sediment source and a severe decline in vegetation coverage. Such phenomena indicate intensified deforestation and soil/rock erosion in the Deccan Plateau producing higher ferrimagnetic mineral inputs, which is in agreement with significant expansion of agricultural activities in the Deccan Chalcolithic cultural period.[52]
The Godavari River basin is endowed with rich mineral deposits such as oil and gas, coal, iron,limestone, manganese, copper,bauxite, granite,laterite, and others. The following are the few noted deposits:
Dried up Godavari exposingflood basalt river bed as seen from the back of Changdev temple inPuntamba
The frequent drying up of the Godavari River in the drier months has been a matter of great concern. Indiscriminate damming along the river has been cited as an obvious reason. Within Maharashtra sugarcane irrigation has been blamed as one of the foremost causes.[53]
In 2013, the river was at its all-time low in theNizamabad district of Telangana. This had hit the growth of fish, making the life of fishermen miserable. The water-level was so low that people could easily walk into the middle of the river. Shortage in rainfall and closure of the controversialBabli project gates in Maharashtra was thought to have affected the water flow in the river and water availability to theSriram Sagar Project except during above 20% excess monsoon (i.e. one out of four years) years.[54]
A study has found that the delta is at a greater risk as the rate of sedimentaggradation (raising the level of the delta through sediment deposition) no longer exceeds relativesea level rise.[55] It further states that the suspended sediment load at the delta has reduced from 150·2 million tons during 1970–1979 to 57·2 million tons by 2000–2006,[56] which translates into a three-fold decline in the past 4 decades. Impacts of this can be seen in destroyed villages likeUppada in Godavari delta,[57] destruction of Mangrove forests and fragmentation of shoreline – possibly a fallout of dam construction.
Said to further epitomise the insensitivity towards Godavari, is thePolavaram Project which is touted to be gigantic – both in terms of size and violations.[58] Deemed as being pointless and politically driven,[59] the project raises questions about environmental clearance, displacement of upstream human habitations,[60] loss of forest cover, technicalities in the dam design which are said to play down flood threats and unsafe embankments.
High alkalinity water is discharged from the ash dump areas of many coal fired power stations into the river which further increases thealkalinity of the river water whose water is naturally of high alkalinity since the river basin is draining vast area ofbasalt formations.[61] This problem aggravates during the lean flow months in entire river basin. Already the Godavari basin area in Telangana is suffering from high alkalinity and salinity water problem which is converting soils in to unproductivesodic alkali soils.[62] The following are the few coal fired power stations located in the river basin:
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