Physical Geography
Mahanadi River
- Context: Recently, ONGC commenced operations to drill its first deep-water appraisal well in the Mahanadi offshore basin.
About the Mahanadi River
- It is one of the major east-flowing peninsular rivers of India.
- It flows primarily through the states of Chhattisgarh and Odisha.
- It is the third-largest peninsular river, following the Godavari and Krishna rivers.
Course of the River
- Origin: Sihawa Hills in the Dhamtari district of Chhattisgarh (at an elevation of approximately 442 meters above sea level).
- It begins as small streams at the foothills of the Dandakaranya range.
- It flows northward for about 100 km before turning eastward.
- It enters the plains of Odisha near Cuttack and forms a delta.
- Near Paradip Port, it splits into several distributaries and empties into the Bay of Bengal near ‘False Point’.
- The city of Puri is located near one of its mouths, while Konark is situated a short distance away along the coast.
Key Facts
- Total length: 860 km.
- Boundaries:
- North: Central Indian hills
- South and East: Eastern Ghats
- West: Maikal Hills
- The Mahanadi river basin encompasses Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and parts of Jharkhand, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh.
- It flows through major cities such as Raipur, Sambalpur, and Cuttack.
- It is one of the rivers in India that deposits significant amounts of alluvial soil. Major Tributaries
- Seonath, Jonk, Hasdeo, Mand, Ib, Ong, Tel
Major Dams
- Hirakud Dam (Odisha), Gangrel Dam (Chhattisgarh), Tandula Dam (Chhattisgarh), Kalma Barrage (Odisha), Sondur Dam (Chhattisgarh), Hasdeo Bango Dam (Chhattisgarh).
Connection with Chilika Lake
- Chilika Lake, a Ramsar wetland site, receives approximately 61 percent of its inland freshwater inflow from the Mahanadi river system; this occurs primarily through the distributaries known as the Daya and Bhargavi.
