BRAHMANI-BAITARNI BASIN
 

Brahmani and Baitarni basin jointly extends over an area of 51,882 km2 which is nearly 1.7% of the total geographical area of the country. The independent drainage areas of Brahmani and Baitarni are 39,033 km2 and 12,789 km2 respectively. The basin lies in the states of Orissa (34,749 km2, Bihar (15,757 km2) and Madhya Pradesh (1,316 km2).

The Brahmani river rises near Nagri village in Ranchi district of Bihar at an elevation of about 600 m and has a total length of 799 km. The Baitarni river rises in the hill ranges of Keomjhar district of Orissa at an elevation of about 900 m and has a length of about 355 km. Both river systems outfall into the Bay of Bengal forming a common delta area. The important tributaries of Brahmani are the Karo, the Sankh , and the Tirka and those of Baitarni are the Salandi and the Matai.

The basin consists of four well-defined regions, namely, the northern plateau, the eastern ghats, the coastal plains and the central table land.

An average annual surface water potential of 28.5 km3 has been assessed in this basin. Out of this, 18.3 km3 is utilisable water. Culturable area in the basin is about 3.2 M.ha, which is 1.6% of the total culturable area of the country.

Live storage capacity in the basin has increased significantly. From just about 0.06 km3 in the fifth-plan period, the total live storage capacity of the completed projects has increased to 4.8 km3. In addition, a storage quantity of 0.2 km3 would be created on completed of projects under construction. An additional storage to the tune of over 8.7 km3 would become available on execution of projects under consideration. The hydropower potential of the basin has been assessed as 548 MW at 60% load factor.

Source: MINISTRY OF WATER RESOURCES
GOVERNMENT  OF  INDIA