Storage in Cauvery basin reservoirs has dipped to nearly half their gross capacity

Subject: Geography

Section: Rivers in news

Context:

The water level in the four major reservoirs in the Cauvery basin of the State has dipped to nearly half of their cumulative gross capacity.

Cauvery basin:

The Cauvery basin extends over the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and the Union Territory of Puducherry.
It spans nearly 2.7% of the total geographical area of the country.
It is bounded by the Western Ghats on the west, by the Eastern Ghats on the east and south and by the ridges separating it from the Krishna Basin and Pennar Basin on the north.
The three main physiographic divisions of the basin are the Western Ghats, the plateau of Mysore and the Delta. The Western Ghat region is mountainous and covered with thick vegetation.
The major reservoirs in the Cauvery basin are Krishnaraja Sagar, Mettur (Stanley), Hemavathy, Kabini, Harasngi, Lower Bhavani and Grand Anicut.
The Cauvery River is one of the major rivers of the peninsular India.
- It rises at an elevation of 1,341 m at Talakaveri on the Brahmagiri range near Cherangala village of Kodagu district of Karnataka and drains into the Bay of Bengal.
- In size, it is smaller than the Godavari, the Mahanadi and the Krishna.
- Major left bank tributaries: Harangi, the Hemavati, the Shimsha and the Arkavati.
- Major Right bank tributaries: the Lakshmantirtha, the Kabbani, the Suvarnavati, the Bhavani, the Noyil and the Amaravati.