Tag: Godavari River

The Godavari River is the second longest river in India after the river Ganges having its source at Tryambakeshwar, Maharashtra. It starts in Maharashtra and flows east for 1,465 kilometres (910 mi) emptying into Bay of Bengal draining the Indian states Maharashtra (48.6%), Telangana( 18.8%), Andhra Pradesh (4.5%), Chhattisgarh (10.9%), Madhya Pradesh (10.0%), Odisha (5.7%) and Karnataka (1.4%) through its extensive network of tributaries. Measuring up to 312,812 km2 , it forms one of the largest river basins in the Indian subcontinent, with only the Ganges and Indus rivers having a drainage basin larger than it in India. In terms of length, catchment area and discharge, the Godavari river is the largest in peninsular India and had been dubbed as the ‘Dakshina Ganga’ – the South Ganges river

The river has been revered in Hindu scriptures since many millennia and continues to harbour and nourish rich cultural heritages. However, in the past few decades, the river has been abused with a relentless construction of barrages and dams. The river delta, supporting 729 persons/km2 – nearly twice the density average for the nation, has been categorised as having substantial risk to greater risk of flooding with rising sea levels.