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MAHANADI RIVER

MAHANADI RIVER

Why in News?

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast a heavy rainfall causing the flood situation in the Mahanadi River, Odisha.

• The Mahanadi River system is the third largest of peninsular India after Godavari and Krishna, and the largest river of Odisha state.
• The catchment area of the river extends to Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand and Maharashtra.
• Its basin is bounded by the Central India hills on the north, by the Eastern Ghats on the south and east and by the Maikala range in the west.

Source:

• It rises from a place near Sihawa in Bastar hills in the state of Chhattisgarh to the south of Amarkantak.
• Major Tributaries:
• The Seonath, the Hasdeo, the Mand and the Ib joins Mahanadi from left whereas the Ong, the Tel and the Jonk joins it from right.
• The Central Government constituted Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal in 2018.

Major Dams/Projects on Mahanadi:

• Hirakud Dam: This is the longest dam of India.
• Ravishankar Sagar, Dudhawa Reservoir, Sondur Reservoir, Hasdeo Bango and Tandula are other major projects.

Urban Centres : Three important urban centres in the basin are Raipur, Durg and Cuttack.

Industries:

• Mahanadi basin, because of its rich mineral resource and adequate power resource, has a favourable industrial climate.
• Iron and Steel plant at Bhilai
• Aluminium factories at Hirakud and Korba
• Paper mill near Cuttack
• Cement factory at Sundargarh.
• Other industries based primarily on agricultural produce are sugar and textile mills.
• Mining of coal, iron and manganese are other industrial activities.