Alaknanda river uttarakhand

Alaknanda river uttarakhand

Alaknanda River

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. No cleanup reason has been specified. Please help improve this article if you can. (January 2010)

This article is about the tributary of the Ganges.

Alaknandā (अलकनंदा)
River
The sediment-laden Alaknanda river flowing intoDevprayag, Uttarakhand.
Country	India
State	Uttarakhand
Region	Garhwal division
Districts	Chamoli, Rudraprayag,Pauri Garhwal
Tributaries
- left	Saraswati, Dhauliganga,Nandakini, Pindar
- right	Mandakini
Source	Confluence of Satopanth Glacier and Bhagirathi Kharak Glacier
- elevation	3,880 m (12,730 ft)
Source confluence	Bhagirathi River
Mouth	Ganges
- location	Devprayag, Uttarakhand, India
- elevation	475 m (1,558 ft)
Length	190 km (118 mi)
Basin	10,882 km2 (4,202 sq mi)
Discharge
- average	439.36 m3/s (15,516 cu ft/s)
The Himalayan headwaters of the Ganges river in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand, India. The Alaknanda is the left bank tributary of the Ganges at Devprayag.

The Alaknanda is a Himalayan river in the Indian state of Uttarakhandand one of the two headstreams of the Ganga, the major river of Northern India and the holy river of Hinduism. In hydrology, the Alaknanda is considered the source stream of the Ganges on account of its greater length and discharge;^[1] however, in Hindu mythology and culture, the other headstream, the Bhagirathi, is considered the source stream.

Contents

  [hide] 

• 1Overview
• 2Attractions
• 3Recreation
• 4Panch Prayag
• 5Dams
• 6Towns along Alaknanda River
• 7Photo gallery
• 8See also
• 9References
• 10External links

Overview[edit]

The Alaknanda is considered to rise at the confluence and foot of theSatopanth and Bhagirath Kharak glaciers in Uttarakhand, though the Saraswati River tributary flowing from Mana Pass is longer; the two meet at Mana, India, 21 km from Tibet. Three km below Mana the Alaknanda flows past the Hindu pilgrimage centre of Badrinath. It meets the Bhagirathi River at Devprayag after flowing for approximately 190 km (118.1 mi) through the Alaknanda valley. Its main tributaries are the Mandakini, Nandakini, and Pindar rivers. The Alaknanda system drains parts of Chamoli, Tehri, and Pauri districts.^[2]

River Alaknanda near Badrikashram

Following the merging atDevprayag, the river is known as theGanges. The Alaknanda contributes a significantly larger portion to the flow of the Ganges than the Bhagirathi. The Alaknanda is also known for adventure sports such as rafting.

In mythology, the Goddess Ganga descended to earth at Gangotri, the original source of the Bhagirathi before the Gangotri Glacier receded to its current location at Gomukh. The Alaknanda is believed to have split off from the celestial Ganges when it descended from heaven.

The origin of Alaknanda River is of special interest to the tourists who visit the important pilgrimages in Uttarakhand. The Ganges rises in the southern Himalayas on the Indian side of the Tibet border. The five headstreams of the Ganges including the Bhagirathi, Mandakini, Alaknanda, Dhauliganga and Pindar, all rising in the northern mountainous regions ofUttarakhand.

On the Satopanth Glacier six km up from Alaknanda's origin at its snout, the triangular Lake Satopanth is found at a height of 4350 m. It and the glacier are named after the Hindu trinity Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu, Lord Shiva.

Nanda Devi is the highest point in the Alaknanda basin.

Attractions[edit]

Badrinath:

Badrinath, one of the holy destinations for Hindus in India is located near to the bank of the Alaknanda River. This place is surrounded by two mountain ranges of Nar and Narayan and Neelkanth peak is located at the back side.

Recreation[edit]

Rafting

Alaknanda River origin is of great interest for the tourists who visit the pilgrimages in Uttarakhand. Rise of the Ganges in India is from the southern part of the Indian Himalaya, near the Tibet border. This river is among the best for river rafting in the world due to its high rafting grade.^{[citation needed]}

Panch Prayag[edit]

Several rivers in the Garhwal region merge with the Alaknanda at Panch Prayag or 'holy confluence of rivers'. These are:^[3]

1. Vishnuprayag, where the Alaknanda is met by the Dhauliganga River
2. Nandaprayag, where it is met by the Nandakini River
3. Karnaprayag, where it is met by the Pindar River
4. Rudraprayag, where it is met by the Mandakini River
5. Devprayag, where it meets the Bhagirathi River and officially becomes the Ganges

Dams[edit]

There are 37 hydroelectric dams in operation, under construction or planned to harness the energy of the Alaknanda river and its tributaries and generate electricity.^[4] HYDEL PROJECTS ON ALAKNANDA RIVER BASIN

#	Name	Electrical output capacity (MW)	Status	Dam height (m)	Full reservoir level (MSL) (m)	River bed level at dam site (MSL) (m)	Head race tunnel length (km)	Tail race tunnel length (m)	Tail water level (MSL) (m)
1	BADRINATH	1.25	OPERATIONAL
2	TAPOVAN	0.8	OPERATIONAL
3	THARALI	0.4	OPERATIONAL
4	TILWARA	0.2	OPERATIONAL
5	URGAM	3	OPERATIONAL
6	VISHNUPRAYAG	400	OPERATIONAL	14			11.323
7	KALIGANGA-I	4	UNDER-CONSTRUCTION
8	KALIGANGA-II	6	UNDER-CONSTRUCTION
9	KOTI BHEL IB	320	UNDER-CONSTRUCTION	90	521	452.5		230	463.2
10	KOTI BHEL II	530	UNDER-CONSTRUCTION	82	458.5	401.4		390	411.1
11	MADHAMAHESHWAR	10	UNDER-CONSTRUCTION
12	TAPOVAN VISHNUGAD	520	UNDER-CONSTRUCTION	22	803.5			513	1267
13	SHRINAGAR	330	UNDER-CONSTRUCTION
14	SINGOLI BHATWARI	99	UNDER-CONSTRUCTION

There are 23 other proposed projects in the ALAKNANDA RIVER BASIN through which the power-potential of the Alaknanda and its tributaries can be harnessed. The proposed 23 Hydel-Projects are as follows -

1. ALAKNANDA (Badrinath) (300 MW)
2. BAGOLI (72 MW)
3. BOWLA NANDPRAYAG (132 MW)
4. CHUNI SEMI (60 MW)
5. DEODI (60 MW)
6. DEVSARI DAM (255 MW)
7. GAURIKUND (18.6 MW)
8. GOHANA TAL (60 MW)
9. JELAM TAMAK (60 MW)
10. KARNAPRAYAG (160 MW)
11. LAKSHMANGANGA (4.4 MW)
12. LATA TAPOVAN (310 MW)
13. MALERI JELAM (55 MW)
14. NANDPRAYAG LANGASU (141 MW)
15. PADLI DAM (27 MW)
16. PHATA-BYUNG (10.8 MW)
17. RAMBARA (24 MW)
18. RISHIGANGA I (70 MW)
19. RISHIGANGA II (35 MW)
20. TAMAK LATA (280 MW)
21. URGAM II (3.8 MW)
22. UTYASU DAM (860 MW)
23. VISHNUGAD PIPALKOTI (444 MW)

Towns along Alaknanda River[edit]

As the river flows, the towns along its banks are Badrinath, Vishnuprayag, Joshimath, Chamoli, Nandaprayag, Karnaprayag,Rudraprayag, Srinagar and Devprayag. At each town with suffix prayag, Alaknanda meets another river.

Photo gallery[edit]

• 

  Rudraprayag -Confluence of Alaknanda and Mandakini
 
• 

  Alaknanda river near the town of Srinagar in Uttarakhand
 
• 

  Alaknanda joinsBhagirathi at Devprayagto form the Ganges

See also[edit]

• 2013 North India floods

References[edit]

1. Jump up^ Gopal, Madan (1990). K.S. Gautam, ed. India through the ages. Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. p. 65.
2. Jump up^ Singh Negi, Sharad (1995). Uttarakhand: Land and People, page 6. MD Publications Pvt Ltd. ISBN 81-85880-73-5.
3. Jump up^ Kapadia, Harish (2001). Trekking and Climbing in the Indian Himalaya, page 89. Stackpole Books. ISBN 0-8117-2953-2.
4. Jump up^ Hydroelectric Projects on Alaknanda River Basin, by South Asia Network on Dams Rivers and People, www.sandrp.in