Jonk River

The River Jonk is a small tributary river of the great Mahanadi River. It flows all the way through the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. This river has its origin in the Sundabeda plateau of the Deccan. It rises from the lush green Maraguda valley. Chhattisgarh is a land locked state at the Central part of India. There is the state of Uttar Pradesh and the states of Bihar in the North and state of Orissa in the East. In the southern border is the state of Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh in the Western direction. Mahanadi and Narmada are the main rivers of this state and River Jonk is a tributary of River Mahanadi.

The Jonk River is also called the Maniyari River. Compactly, it is also known as the Maniyari Jonk River. The importance of this river lies in the fact that, it provides water for irrigation to the vast regions of Chhattisgarh. This river passes through a number of districts of the state of Chhattisgarh and the water which is provided by this river comes useful to a large number of people. There are Arpa River, Kharoon River, Hasdo River, Pairi River and Mahanadi River which also irrigates the land. Maniyari Jonk River is a very old river of the state of Chhattisgarh and is famous for its spotless and gleaming quality of water.

The Maniyari Jonk River in the state of Chhattisgarh is a perennial river. It does not depend wholly on the rainfall of the region for its water. Hence, even in times of scanty rainfall, the Maniyari Jonk River assures fertile productions of crops and food of the state. The sparkling clean waters of the river more than compensates the shortage of rainfall in the summer and winter seasons.

Course

The Maniyari Jonk River has its origin in a lake in the Plateau of Sundabeda in Chhattisgarh. It enters the Maraguda valley after flowing through the plains for a distance. A thin rivulet known as the Gaidhas Nala joins the Maniyari Jonk River in the Maraguda valley, near a village called Patora. The river also forms two waterfalls before joining Mahanadi River. The first fall is called the Beniadhas Fall and the second fall is the Kharaldhas fall.  The river takes a sharp turn at Kurmadih and follows a winding path near Ansula. It flows past Deori and then Sonakhan and becomes wider. The Jonk River meets the Mahanadi at a place called Seorinarayan. Many other tributaries of Mahanadi meet at Seorinarayan, from where it starts to grow wider.

The waters of the Maniyari Jonk irrigate huge agricultural lands. Hectares after hectares give successful harvests. All this becomes possible only for The Jonk River. The climate of Chhattisgarh is perfect for crop production. The quality of the soil is great and also the rainfall pattern of the state. In spite of all these positive features in the sphere of agriculture, a flourishing harvest of crops would not have been possible if there were no rivers in the state. Not only presence of a river would suffice, the river must contain enough water to irrigate the crops. River Maniyari Jonk accomplishes this by providing an unswerving and reliable supply of water throughout the year. Therefore, Jonk River demands a special mention among all the other rivers of Chhattisgarh.

Tributaries of River Jonk

The Maniyari Jonk River has one tributary. The Gaidhas Nala joins the river near the village of Patora. This is the only one tributary of the river that is worth having a mention. However, Maniyari Jonk River forms two waterfalls on its way to the Mahanadi. The first fall is known as the Beniadhas Fall. In this fall water falls from a height of 80 feet. The second fall is the Kharaldhas Fall which is 150 feet high. The government has planned to build dams across the Jonk River to increase its efficiency of water supply.

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