Indravati River

This river is a stream of the river Godavari. Its starting point is found to be the Ghats of Dandakaranya range, in the Kalahandi district of the state of Odisha, The River follows a westerly path and enters Jagadalpur in the state of Chhattisgarh.

The river moves from here in a southern route, before eventually uniting with the Godavari at the borders of three states. They are the state of Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. The river at a variety of stages of its course forms the boundary between Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.

The river Indravati is also known as the oxygen of the Bastar district of state of Chhattisgarh. This district is one of the greenest and eco-friendly districts, found in the whole of India.

A total number of five hydroelectric projects were planned on the river Indravati. They were namely the Kutru I, the Kutro II, the Nugru I, Nugru II and the Bhopalpatnam. However, the plan misfired. It did not see the light of the day, due to ecological reasons.

Course

This river flows from the height of 914 m in the district of Kalahandi district of the state of Odisha, located on the slopes of the Eastern Ghats. It covers a length of 164 km, while flowing past the districts of Koraput, Kalandi and Nabarangapur after creating a boundary, between the states of Odisha and Chhattisgarh. A total of length added up to 9.5 km, entering the district of Bastar district of the state of Chhattisgarh. Here, the river covers a distance of 233 km inside Chhattisgarh.

From there, the river Indravati swings towards the south and moves to the boundaries of the states of Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra. Then, after flowing for 129km, joins the Godavari, at the boundaries of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh.

The sub basin of the river Indravati is spread over an area of about 40625 sq km. Its catchment area is about 7535 sq km in the state of Odisha. The length of the river is about535.80 km. It originates in the hills of Kalahandi and joins the river Godavari at Bhadrakali, a village in the Bijapur district of the state of Chhattisgarh. The journey from the start to the finish is a well defined course.

The river begins in a South-East direction as a small rivulet, in the state of Odisha. Later it takes a westerly direction through Bastar district of the state of Chhattisgarh. From here the river then takes a North West turn. Then it again takes a South West direction. During its entire journey of 535.80 km, the river drops by about 832.10 m.

The river’s bed level at its union with the Godavari River is R.L. 82.3 m as compared to the level in Kalahandi. It takes off at 914.4 m. The Indravati and the Sabari rivers are it is also interconnected in the state of Odisha. The waters of the Indravati overflow into the Sarbari, via the Jaura Nallah.

Tributaries

The principal tributaries of the River Indravati are Keshadhara Nalla, Kandabindha Nallah, Bhaskel river, Jaura river, Golagar Nalla, Chandragiri Nalla, Kapur Nalla, Poragarh Nalla, Muran river, Padrikundijori river, Modong river, Kora river, Damayanti Sayagarh, Chourijori Nallah, Turi Nallah, Bangri Nallah and the Telengi Nallah.

The main right bank tributaries of the river Indravati are the Bhaskal, Narangi, Boarding, Nibra, Bandia and Kotri. On the other hand, the Nandiraj is the principal tributary on the left bank of the Indravati River.

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