Rivers in Odisha

– It is the second largest river in Odisha. It originates as two major
rivers like the Sankh and the Koel from the chotanagpur plateau of Bihar and both
join at Ved Vyasa near Rourkela in Sundargarh district of Odisha forming the
major river Brahmani. It flows through the Eastern Ghats in Sundargarh, Keonjhar,
Dhenkanal, Cuttack and Jajpur districts into the coastal plains and enters into the
Bay of Bengal along with a combined mouth of the Mahanadi known as Dhamra.
The Brahmani is 799kms long (541kms in Odisha) and its catchment area spreads
over 39,033sq kilometres.

It originates near Nagri village of the Chhotnagpur plateau
of Jharkhand. Total length of the river from its origin to its outfall into Bay of
Bengal is 446.12 km, including 79 km inside Odisha. The prominent tributaries of the Subarnarekha are Raru river, Kanchi river, Damra river, Karru river, Kharkhai
river, Chinguru river, Karakari river, Gurma river, Garra river, Singaduba river,
Kodia river, Dulunga river and Khaijori river.

The longest river flowing through the heart of Odisha is
Mahanadi. It is the sixth largest river in India. It is 857kms long (494kms in Odisha)
and its catchment area spreads over 141,600 sq.kms (65,580sq.kms in Odisha). The
river carries on an average about 92,600million m of water. It originates from the
Maipal range in Chhattisgarh popularly known as the Amarkantak plateau. Then
it enters the north west of modern Odisha in the Sambalpur district near padigan,
a little above Hirakud. At Hirakud the longest dam in the world has been built
across the river. It is a multipurpose river valley project. It has an installed capacity
for generation of power. Besides, irrigation for 35,486 hectares of land is facilitated.
The dam controls floods in the state to a great extend.

It originates from the Gonasika in the Guptaganga hills of Keonjhar
district. The river traverses a total distance of 360 kms before falling into the Bay of
Bengal.
29 join on the right side of the river. The
main tributaries are kangira, Ardei,
Khairi, handan, De, Kanjharisita, Musal,
Kusei, and Salandi river. The Salandi
originates from the Meghasani hills of
the Similipal in Mayurbhanja district. It
flows for a distance o 144 km with a
catchment area of 1800sq.km