Rivers And Lakes

The Godavari and Krishna are the major river systems in our state. The Godavari is both the largest and the broadest river in Southern India. Having originated at Triambakeshwar near Nasik in Maharashtra, it traverses along Karnataka and enters our state at Baster. At Polavaram it enters the plains. Near Dowleshwaram it divides into three branches and forms a delta. The Krishna enters our state at Alampuram having originated at Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra. Tungabhadra is an important tributary of the Krishna river. After traversing Vijayawada, this river divides into two and forms a delta. At Nandi Konda, the Nagarjunasagar Dam, at Srisailam, the Srisailam project and at Vijayawada, the Prakasam Barrage are constructed on this river. The other important rivers are the Pennar, Vamsadhara and the Nagavali. All the rivers are rainfed and of great economic significance because they are the source of hydropower. They also have tremendous irrigation potential. The two major lakes in our state are the Kolleru and Pulicat lakes. While the Kolleru lake lies in the delta area between the Krishna and the Godavari rivers, Pulicat lake is in the southern tip of Nellore district, near the sea. We will look at the other physical details of our state, like the forest area, minerals found etc. in the subsequent chapters.