Chambal River
Chambal River
The Chambal River is a tributary of the Yamuna River in Central and Northern India, and thus forms part of the drainage system of the Ganges.
The river flows north-northeast through Madhya Pradesh, running for a time through Rajasthan then forming the boundary between Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh before turning southeast to join the Yamuna in Uttar Pradesh state.
The perennial Chambal originates at Janapav, Indore, on the south slope of the Vindhya Range in Madhya Pradesh.
The Chambal and its tributaries drain the Malwa region of northwestern Madhya Pradesh.
While its tributary, the Banas, which rises in the Aravalli Range, drains southeastern Rajasthan.
It ends a confluence of five rivers, including the Chambal, Kwari, Yamuna, Sind, Pahuj, at Pachnada in Uttar Pradesh.
The Chambal River is considered pollution free.
The river hosts a diverse riverine faunal assemblage including two species of crocodilians – the mugger and gharial.
Charmanwati' (also spelled Charmanvati) is a river mentioned in the epic Mahabharata.
It is believed that the ancient name of Chambal river was Charmanvati, meaning the river on whose banks leather is dried.
Dams on the Chambal:
Gandhisagar Dam – Rajasthan-Madhya Pradesh border.
Rana Pratap Sagar dam – located downstream of Gandhi Sagar dam near Rawatbhata in Chittorgarh district in Rajasthan.
Jawahar Sagar Dam – upstream of Kota city in Rajasthan.
Kota Barrage – upstream of Kota City in Rajasthan.
Why it is in news?
Farmers’ protest brings water to Chambal canals after 2 decades
Water was released after two decades into the dried-up irrigation canals between Gandhi Sagar Dam and Kota Barrage.
Irrigation water from the Chambal river will facilitate sowing of traditional kharif crops, including rice, soybean, and sugarcane, in Kota and Bundi districts.
Farm production reduced significantly in the years after 2001, when the water supply was stopped for some technical reasons.
Rajasthan’s only agriculture-based cooperative sugar mill, set up in 1970 and situated at Keshoraipatan in Kota district, also went defunct in 2004 because of financial losses, affecting the livelihood of sugarcane farmers and agricultural labourers.
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