Godavari River - Altitude profile

Using topocoding.com's API available to map the altitudes, I created the profile of Godavari River's altitude.

The starting point is at Basara ( AP-Maharastra border) from where Godavari flows exclusively in AP and the end point is Bay of Bengal, where it terminates at yanam.




This total length, according to the profile plot, is about 720 kms.

You can see that there is one minor dip in the above Figure. It corresponds to Sriram Sagar (@ nearly 72kms) and this is only gravity dam built on Godavari.

Overall, Krishna drops from 1100ft+ (310mts+) to sea level in its entire journey in AP (starting just before Basara).

note: Ignore those spikes in the Figure. Knots just wandered a little bit while tracing Godavari in the map. They are just measurement errors.

Krishna River - Altitude profile

Using topocoding.com's API available to map the altitudes, I created the profile of Krishna River's altitude.

The starting point is at the tip of Karnataka and AP (Mehboob Nagar Dst.) from where Krishna flows exclusively in AP and the end point is Bay of Bengal, where Krishna terminates.

The total length, according to the profile plot, is about 582 kms. If you add about another 50+ kms of Karnataka-AP border, length of Krishna in AP will be about 630+ Kms. Of which, about 100kms exclusively flows in Telangana. Therefore, only less than 1/6th (or ~ 17%) of Krishna exclusively flows in Telangana. 70% of Krishna flowing Telangana, though factual, gives a wrong impression.

Shown below is the profile plot of Krishna River that flows between upstream Jurala and Bay-of-Bengal.



You can see three major dips in the plot, immediately followed by flat regions. They correspond to Jurala (@ nearly 20kms), Srisailam (@ nearly 180kms) and Nagarjuna Sagar (@ nearly 300kms). There is another flat region starting at nearly 400ksm, that should be the Prakasam barrage.

Overall, Krishna, drops from 900ft+ (300mts+) to sea level in its entire journey in AP (starting just before Jurala).

note: Ignore those spikes in the Figure. They are because, knots just wandered a little bit while tracing Krishna in the map. They are just measurement errors.

Disadvantage - Seema/Talangana

Shown above is the topological map of Andhra Pradesh.

• Majority of telangana-seema is in the high altitude region. The Deccan peninsula is inclined eastwards (this makes me think that right canals would irrigate more area than left canals) making it much difficult to irrigate telangana region sandwiched between Godavari and Krishna. In which case, gravity based canals would be effective, only if they originate at the farthest points eastwards or northeastwards. But availability of water always decreases as we move upstream.
• It would be much easier to construct and operate canals in the coastal delta.
• It is not a coincidence that backward regions in AP have similar altitudes (or at least, have chunks of it) irrespective of whether rivers flow in those regions.
• Building canals and water ways is a populist idea and conceptually looks good. But it is not as simple as building concrete highways/information highways or drawing imaginary political maps.
  

Krishna:

• It is true that about 70% or more of both Krishna and Godvari flow in Talangana. However, this could lead to incorrect notions about the available water up-stream.
• Only a stretch of Krishna flows exclusively in Telangana (in Mehboob Nagar Dst). The remaining stretch is shared (boundary) either by Seema/Karnataka or flows exclusively in Kosta (Guntur/Krishna Dsts.)
• Its major tributary ( other than Bheema) Tunga-Bhadra joins Krishna at Kurnool-Mehboob Nagar boundary and since then it becomes a shared resource as mentioned before
• Krishna-water basin is under closure, which means that the available water is being utliized completely or is fully committed. The only way new projects can be taken-up is by limiting/reducing already committed/serviced areas.
• Circa 1951, Bombay state received an entitlement of 240tmcf, Mysore state 10 tmcf, Hyderabad state 280 tmcf, and Madras state 470 tmcf of Krishna water.
• Krishna-1 and 2 projects near Akkampally are providing drinking water to Hyderabad from Nagarjuna Sagar. Apparently, these pipelines go through Naglonda district. My view is that there is not much water left for Nalgonda. Otherwise, drinking water could be supplied to Nalgonda form this project.
• Krishna is not a perennial river and depends much on the rainfall in the western-ghats. It is only natural that downstream areas benefit from this. Nature does not care about politics but only follows the laws of Physics.
• The K-C canal connects Krishna and Penna. A section of the Telugu-ganaga project is another link (terminating at Somasila on Penna)

Godavari:

• Unlike Krishna, Godavari is not easy to tap, again due to its geography. Many of its main tributaries flow on the other side of the Godavari (except Manjira and few small tributaries). Like Krishna, it also depends on rainfalls (in Maharastra, Chattisghad and Orissa which make up much of the catchment area).
• So far, only two alternate locations suitable for gravity-dams were identified upstream Dhavaleswaram, other than Sriram sagar. They are itchampally and polavaram. (Itchampally proposes to link Godavari with Krishna @ Nagarjuna Sagar)
• Polavaram project was proposed and surveyed in the early 1940s. As per current drawings, it's left canal connects Krishna at Prakasam Barrage. It also hopes to provide 960MW (for lift projects upstream). But now a days, there is huge criticism for large projects, questioning their utility as a whole.
• Itchampally was put on back burner due to political reasons and Polavaram was started without obtaining proper clearances. Only a man like YSR could do that. Prof. Kodandaram, who was convening the JAC, fiercely opposed Polavaram, citing environmental issues. It would be interesting to see what his take will be for the itchampally project
• Around 40% of the annual discharge occurs just in a matter of few weeks during monsoons. This makes it very difficult to tap Godavari water.
• Around, 90% of Godavari's discharge is due to the catchment area downstream Sriram sagar.

BASED on:

[1] Reforms in "Hyderbad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewage board"
[2] Modeling water supply and demand scenarios: Godavari-Krishna inter-basin transfer, India
[3] Drawing water for thirsty lands: Stories of the closing Krishna river basin in south India
[4] Sponge city: water balance of mega-city water use and wastewater use in Hyderabad, India
[5] A History of water: water control and river biography
[6] Perspectives on Polavaram
[7] and my (poor) ability record, recall, process and analyze information


[1-4] WWW
[5-6] Google books or your library


IN the hope that it clears or creates more confusion,
BY an idiot who doesnt say "All is Well"
BUT says,

"We romanticize our rivers very much. Godavari at Basara pales in comparison to the Akhanda Godavari near Rajamundry. Only man-made diversions, with their bag of problems and destruction, can bring Konaseema/Diviseema greenery to the dry uplands".

Choice is ours.