Other Rivers

Bagmati River

Bagmati river is one of the secondary river systems of Nepal originating at Baghdwar of Shivapuri hills, southern part of Kathmandu valley. Bagmati river cuts the Mahabharat range at Chobar and flows to terai crossing siwalik hills. There are altogether 24 tributaries originating in Mahabharat and Siwalik ranges, which feed into Bagmai river. It is a holy river with cultural and historical importance predominantly for Hindu community.

Bagmati river covers an area of about 3750 sq. km with a length of 196 km in Nepal. There are altogether 24 rainfall gauging stations established within and in nearby of the catchment area and five discharging gauging stations on it. The mean discharge at Sundarijal and Panderadobhan are 13.8 and 4876 cumecs respectively (Dhital et al. 2011). The river is fed by springs and monsoon precipitation.

Besides of its historical importance and holiness in it, Bagmati river is mostly recognized as polluted river in Kathmandu valley. Municipal waste and sewage are dumped directly into this shrine river, degrading the quality of water. Keeping this in mind, a High Powered Committee for Integrated Development of the Bagmati Civilization (HPCIDBC) was endorsed by government of Nepal in 2051/52 B.S. Various restoration activities are under action for improving the deteriorating condition of Bagamati river. The ongoing Bagmati cleaning campaign started on 19 May 2013 has gone over 200 weeks. Bagmati River Basin Improvement Project (BRBIP) has been implemented under HPCIDBC with support from Asian Development Bank (ADB) and other governmental departments. Bagmati river basin improvement project has planned to construct two dams at Dhap and Nagmati, to collect rain water in monsoon and release it in controlled manner during dry season. Along with that four new treatment plants (Sallaghari, Bhaktapur; Kodku, Balkumari; Dhobighat, Lalitpur and Khokana, Lalitpur) are expected to be fully function by 2020.

References

Dhital, Y. P., Kayastha, R. B., & Eslamian, S. (2011). Precipitation and discharge pattern analysis: A case study of Bagmati river basin, Nepal. Journal of Flood Engineering, 2(1):49-60

 

Kamala River

Figure: Kamala River Basin

Kamala river originates from churia region of Nepal in the central part of Nepal.

Kamala river basin extends from 85° 58′ 11.6″E to 86° 18′ 16.8″E longitude and

26° 56′ 45.9″N to 27° 5′ 44.4″N latitude covering an area of 23,194.33 hectares.

The basin harbors water from Province 1 and 3 and flows to Province 2; extending up to 208 Km and then flowing 120 Km across India. It drains a total catchment area of 7,232 square kilometers. The main tributaries of the river in Nepal are Tawa, Thakuar, Kali, Chadaha and Gwang.

Floods are the major hydro-meteorological hazards that occur frequently in the basin along with soil erosion and landslides which are attributed due to fragile physiography of the Chure. Besides these, Kamala river basin has been put through haphazard deforestation and ungoverned extraction of sand and stones.

 

West Rapti

Rapti river lies in the mid-western region of Nepal, extending from 27˚56’50” to 28˚02’30” North latitudes and 81˚45’00” to 81˚40’00” East longitudes. The river originates from the middle mountains, enters the terai and finally drains to Ghagra river in India. Major tributaries of Rapti river are Jhumruk river, Mari river, Arun River, Lungri River, Sit River, Dunduwa River, Sotiya and Gandheli rivulets. The river runoff is basically due to monsoon rainfall and groundwater due to which average monthly flow varies from 17.6 m3/s in pre-monsoon April to 451 m3/s at the peak of the monsoon in August.

The Rapti basin receives summer monsoon rainfall extending from June to September, accounting about 80% of the total annual rainfall. The average rainfall for West Rapti River basin is about 1500 mm.

Flood is one of the hydro-meteorological hazard in the basin mainly in plains.

 

Babai River

Babai river originates in the Churia range in eastern end of Dang valley, flows through the core area of Bardia National Park before confluence with the Karnlai River south of Nepal-India border.

Bheri-Babai diversion multipurpose project (BBDMP) is under construction phase for achieving year round irrigation for 51,000 ha agricultural land of Banke and Bardiya districts and generate 46 MW electricity by transfering 40 m3/sec of water from Bheri River to Babai River.