Ghaghara: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|LongestAsian Riverriver and tributary of Nepalthe Ganges}}

{{redirect|Gogra|the location in Chang Chenmo Valley of Ladakh|Gogra, Ladakh}}
{{ConfuseDistinguish|KarnaliGhaggar-Hakra River|Ghaghra}}
{{more citations needed|date=June 2013}}

| name = KarnaliGhaghara

| image_caption = Karnali (Ghaghara) river in [[Nepal]]

| map_caption = Map showing the Karnali, Ghaghara and Gandaki tributaries of the Ganges

| source1_location = [[Tibet]] , [[China]]

The '''KarnaliGhaghara River''', calledalso known as the '''GhagharaKarnali River''' in [[IndiaNepal]], '''Mapcha Tsangpo''' in [[Tibet]], and the lower Ghaghara in [[Awadh]] calledis known as the '''Sarayu River''',<ref name="Shekhar Pathak 2016 92">{{cite book |author=Pathak, S. |title=Globalization and Marginalization in Mountain Regions |chapter=Himalaya: Highest, Holy and Hijacked |year=2016 |editor1=Raghubir Chand |editor2=Walter Leimgruber |series=Perspectives on Geographical Marginality |volume=1 |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-32649-8_7 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mwlkDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA92 |pages=89–110 |isbn=978-3-319-32648-1}}</ref> is a [[Perennial stream|perennial]] [[trans-boundary river]] that originates in the northern slopes of the Himalayas in the [[Tibetan Plateau]], cuts through the [[Himalayas]] in Nepal and joins the [[Sharda River]] at Brahmaghat in [[India]]. Together they form the Ghaghara River, a major left-bank tributary of the [[Ganges]]. With a length of {{cvt|507|km}}, it is the longest river in Nepal. The total length of the Ghaghara up to its confluence with the Ganges at Revelganj in [[Bihar]] is {{cvt|1080|km}}.<ref name="jain+al2007">{{cite book |author1=Jain, S.K. |author2=Agarwal, P.K. |author3=Singh, V.P. |year=2007 |title=Hydrology and Water Resources of India |publisher=Springer |location=The Netherlands |isbn=978-1-4020-5179-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZKs1gBhJSWIC&pg=PR5}}</ref> It is the largest tributary of the Ganges by volume and the second largest by length after [[Yamuna]].

The Karnali River Basin lies between the mountain ranges of [[Dhaulagiri]] in [[Nepal]] and [[Nanda Devi]] in [[Uttarakhand]]. [[Dhaulagiri II]], elevation {{convert|7751|m|ft}}, is the highest point of the entire basin. In the north, it lies in the rain shadow of the [[Himalayas]]. The basin formed by the river has a total catchment area of {{convert|127950|km2|mi2}}, of which 45&nbsp;percent is in India.<ref>West Seti Hydroelectric Project (2007) ''Karnali Basin Cumulative Impact Assessment''. Report by West Seti Hydro Limited, Kathmandu, Nepal [http://www.wsh.com.np/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/cumulative_impact_assessmentcia_final_23nov_07.pdf download pdf] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724190113/http://www.wsh.com.np/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/cumulative_impact_assessmentcia_final_23nov_07.pdf |date=2011-07-24 }}</ref>

Important towns in India include [[Akbarpur, Ambedkar Nagar|Akabarpur]], [[Ayodhya]], [[Bahraich]], [[Barabanki city|Barabanki]], [[Basti district|Basti]], [[Deoria, Uttar Pradesh|Deoria]], [[Barhalganj]], [[Gonda district|Gonda]], [[Gorakhpur]], [[Sitapur]], [[Siddharthnagar]], [[Sant Kabir Nagar district|Saint Kabir Nagar]], Kamhariya, [[Rajesultanpur]], and[[Tanda, Ambedkar Nagar|Tanda]] and Mihinpurwa[Bahraich] in [[Uttar Pradesh]] and Chapra, [[Siwan, Bihar|Siwan]], and [[Sonpur, Bihar|Sonepur]] in [[Bihar]].

The Karnali provides the upper range for the [[South Asian river dolphin|Gangetic river dolphin]] (''Platanista gangetica''), the largest freshwater mammals found on the Indian subcontinent. They are considered vulnerable species under CITES Appendix 1 and are classified as endangered on the IUCN Red List (IUCN, 2004). The river dolphins are legally protected animals in Nepal as endangered mammal and fall under Schedule I of the protected list of National Parks & Wildlife Conservation Act, 1973. Living at the upstream range limit, dolphins in the Karnali River are particularly vulnerable to threats from habitat degradation. Dolphins need deep pools of water. They are often found in places where human activities are most intense and they are sometimes accidentally caught by the local people who live in the lower Karnali basin. The Karnali River supports the last potentially viable population of the Ganges river dolphin in Nepal. These dolphins are at their farthest upstream range and isolated by the GirijapurGirijapuri Barrage (a low gated dam), located about {{convert|16|km|mi|0}} downstream of the Nepal–India border ( in Mihinpurwa district Bahraich).<ref>[http://assets.panda.org/downloads/freeflowingriversreport.pdf Free-flowing rivers]</ref>