Question

Give an account of the Godavari basin.

Answer 1

Hint: The part of land drained by a river and its tributaries is a river basin. It includes all the surface of the land dissected and drained by several streams and creeks that flow into each other downhill, and eventually into the main river.

Complete answer
In addition to smaller parts in Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and the Union territories of Puducherry, the Godavari basin stretches over the states of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha with a total area of 3,12,812 sq.km with a combined length and width of around 995 km and 583 km.

It lies between eastern longitudes of 73 ° 24 'to 83 ° 4' and northern latitudes of 16 ° 19 'to 22 ° 34' and accounts for almost 9.5 percent of the country's total geographical region. The basin is bounded to the north by the Satmala hills, the Ajanta range and the Mahadeo hills, to the south and east by the Eastern Ghats, and to the west by the Western Ghats.

The Godavari basin is bordered by the Satmala hills to the north, the Ajanta range and the Mahadeo hills to the south, the Eastern Ghats to the east, and the Western Ghats to the west. The entire drainage basin of the river comprises rolling and undulating country, a series of ridges and valleys interspersed with low hill ranges, except for the hills forming the watershed around the basin.

Note:
i) Godavari river has the highest number dams constructed as compared to the other river basins. Mainly 350 dams are constructed including the major and the minor dams.
ii) Godavari river is the longest Peninsular river. Its drainage basin is also the largest among the peninsular river basins. Godavari covers the area which is the 1/10th India’s area that is 312,812 Sq Km.