Ghaghara River

Karnali or Ghaghara (also spelled the Gogra, Ghaghra or Ghagra, Nepali Kauriala or Manchu or the Karnali, In the Uttarakhand and Pilibhit, Shahjanpur district of Uttar Pradesh, the river is called Khakra), literally holy water from the sacred mountain, (Karnali also means “Turquoise River”), is a trans-boundary perennial river which originates on the Tibetan plateau (Karnali is called K'ung-ch'iao Ho in Chinese:) near Manasarovar, cuts through the Himalayas in Nepal on its way to the confluence with the Sarda River at Brahmaghat in India where it forms the Ghaghra River, a major left bank tributary of the Ganges. It is the longest (507 km in length) and largest river in Nepal and one of the largest affluents of the Ganges.[1]and[2].
River course
It rises in the southern slopes of the Himalayas in Tibet, in the glaciers of Mapchachungo, at an altitude of about 3962 metres (13,000 ft) above sea level. The river flows south through Nepal as the Karnali River (flows through one of the most remote and least explored areas of Nepal). A 202 km long, Seti River, its feeder stream, drains the western part of the catchment, and joins the Karnali River in Doti north of Dundras hill. Another feeder stream, 264 km long Bheri river, drains the eastern part of the Catchment and meets the Karnali River near Kuineghat in Surkhet.[3].
Cutting southward across the Siwalik Hills, it splits into two branches, first Geruva on the left and Kauralia on the right near downstream Chisapani) to rejoin south of the Indian border and form the Ghaghra proper. Other tributaries originating in Nepal are the Rapti and the little Gandak. Another important tributary of Ghaghara in India is the Sarayu river, famous for the location of Ayodhya (the capital of Dasarath’s Kingdom) on its banks. It flows southeast through Uttar Pradesh and Bihar states to join the Ganga downstream of the town of` Chapra, after a course of 1080 km. It carries more water than the Ganga before its confluence. Sarayu river is stated to be synonymous with the modern Ghaghara river or as a tributary of it.

Basin

Karnali/Ghghara lies in the mountain range of Dhaulagiri

Karnali/Ghghara lies in the mountain range of Nadadevi
The Karnali basin lies between the mountain ranges of Dhaulagiri and Nanda Devi, in the western part of Nepal. In the north, it lies in the rain shadow of the Himalayas.The basin formed by the river has a total catchment area of 127,950 km² of which 45% is in India.[2].
The growth and development trends of various indicators related to demographic, socioeconomic and development programmes in the Basin in Nepal are briefly explained.[4]
The population of Basin districts in Nepal increased from 1.9 million in 1971 to 4.7 million in 2001, almost a 250% increase over three decades.Similarly, the average population density of the Basin area increased from 87 persons/km2 in 2001 from 53 person/ km2 in 1981.There is steady growth in the economically active population in Basin districts.
The average literacy rate of Basin districts has increased from a mere 7.5% in 1971 to 45% in 2001.The social status of the households living on a permanent basis in Basin districts increased from 24% in 1991 to 31% in 2001.
The Basin has a total road length of 2,640 km.The pace of road development is very slow in the Basin districts.

Glaciers
The Nepal Himalaya has revealed 3,252 glaciers and 2,323 lakes above 3,500 m above sea level. They cover an area of 5,323 km2 with an estimated ice reserve of 481 km3. Out of this, the Karnali River basin has 1,361 glaciers and 907 lakes, with glaciers covering an area of 1,740.22 km2 and an estimated ice reserve of 127.72 km3.[5].

Administrative Zones/Districts
In Nepal, Karnali basin is one of 14 zones of Nepal in the northwestern mountainous region, the most remote region of Nepal, and is not yet accessible by road. As the largest zone in Nepal, it occupies about fifteen percent, about 5,000 square miles (13,000 km2), of Nepal’s total area. The headquarters of the Zone is Jumla. It is divided into 5 districts – a) Dolpa District b) Humla District , c) Jumla District , d) Kalikot District and e) Mugu District.[6].
The Karnali has the lowest population density in Nepal. There are no large towns or cities on its banks and in Nepal it is only crossed by one major road the Mahendra Highway through Karnali Chisapani and now the new road is under construction to Jumala.[7].
In India, the administrative districts in the Ghaghra catchment are Ambedkarnagar, Azamgarh, Barabanki, Basti, Ballia, Bahraich, Deoria, Faizabad, Gonda, Gorakhpur, Sant Kabir Nagar, Jaunpur, Kheri, Lakhimpur, Sitapur of Uttar Pradesh and Siwan district in Bihar.
Important towns in India include Akabarpur, Ayodhya Faizabad, Bahraich, Barabanki, Basti, Deoria , Dohrighat, Gonda, Gorakhpur, Khaililabad, Sitapur, Siddharthnagar, Saint Kabir Nagar and Tanda in Uttar Pradesh and Chapra, Deoria, Siwan, Saran and Sonepur in Bihar.

The Lake and Tibetan Himalayas - source of Karnali/Ghaghara river

Source of karnali/Ghghrara river

National parks

Nepal
Karnali basin hosts some of Nepal's famous National Parks.The protected area constitutes nearly 14% of the total Basin area. The Basin area includes 4 out of the 9 National Parks, 1 out of 3 Wild Life Reserves, the only Hunting Reserve, and two out of 6 Buffer Zones of Nepal ((Table 2.19). The Basin and its influence area alone constitute 27% of the total Protected Area, 63% of National Park, 25% of the Buffer Zone, 100% of the Hunting Reserve and 31% of Wildlife Reserve.The significance of a few imporatnt Protected Areas in the Basin is summarised below:[4].
Shey Phoksundo National Park[8] in Dopa, established in 1984, is situated in the trans-Himalayan region of Northwestern Nepal and represents the Tibetan plateau ecosystem. The park covering an area of 35.55 km² contains luxuriant forests mainly composed of blue pine, spruce, cypress, poplar, fir and birch and is habitat for the endangered snow leopard and the blue sheep and many species of birds such as Impeyan pheasant (danphe), blood pheasant, cheer pheasant, red and yellow billed cough, rave, jungle crow and snow partridge.It is a religious Buddhist site.
Rara National Park,[9] located in northwest Nepal, about 500 kilometers from Kathmandu, in Mugu district, with a small area in Jumla district too, is the smallest park in Nepal (106 km²) in the mountain region, was established in 1976. But it includes the biggest lake in Nepal called Rara Lake (10.8 km²) at an elevation of 2990 m. The lake is oval shaped and has a maximum length of 5 km and a width of 3 km.
The flora of the park comprises mainly coniferous trees. The area around the lake is dominated by Blue Pine up to 3200 meters; the other plants that are common include Rhododendrons, Black Juniper, Himalayan Spruce, Oak and Himalayan Cypress.
The fauna habitat consists of Musk deer, Himalayan Black Bear, Leopard, Goral, Jackal, Himalayan Tar, Yellow Throated Marten, Wild Dog, Wild Boar, Languor, Rhesus Macaque and Otter. The Most common species birds are Gallinaceous Birds and Migrant Waterfowls, Coots in the lake, Great-crested and Black-necked Grebes, Red-crested pilchards, Mallard, Common Teal, Merganser, Gulls, Snow Cock and Partridges.

caption = Location of the Royal Bardia National Park.
The Royal Bardia Wildlife Park[10] is the largest and most undisturbed wild area of the Terai region of the Nepal Himalayas. Bardia, once a royal hunting reserve (till 1846-1950), was declared a wildlife reserve in 1976, first measuring 134 square miles (350 km2) and expanded in 1985 to 374 square miles (970 km2). it is bordered to the south by the Babai River, to the north by the Shiwalik or Churia Hills, to the west by the Girwa River (a tributary of the Karnali), and to the east by a section of the East-West Highway which bisects the park. The Terai is only in the southwest corner of the park. Much of Bardia is on the southern slopes of the Shiwalik Range where the hills rise to over 4,000 feet (1,200 m). At Chisapani Gorge, the swift-flowing Karnali River emerges from the Shiwalik Range onto the broad plain and flows purposefully through the semi-tropical jungle.
The park is famous for last known herds of wild Elephants (largest of the herd is called “Thulo Hati”, which means "Big Elephant" in the Nepali language) in South Asia, greatest number of deer species; Gaur, the largest wild oxen in world; wild Boar, an omnivorous black-coated creature with large tusks; the agile sloth Bear, a shaggy black bear with a distinctive white "V" on its chest; Blue Bull or Nilgai, the largest Antelope on the Indian subcontinent; and Himalayan Tahr. Serow and Goral, two goat-Antelope members.
It makes a spectacular gorge near Chisapani which contains diverse kinds of trans -Himalayan and sub-Himalayan fish species.
Two species of crocodiles swim in the Karnali, Girwa, and Babai Rivers - the blunt-snouted Marsh Mugger and the fish-eating gharial with its long thin snout. These creatures share the water with the fresh-water Gangetic Dolphin. The Karnali also supports the great mahseer, which weigh up to 90 lb (41 kg), an angler's prize catch.
The Karnali provides the upper range for the 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 IUCNRedlist (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 and 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 Girijapur Barrage (a low gated dam), located about 16 km downstream of the Nepal/India border.[11].
A high dam has been planned for some time just upstream of the dolphins' current (or at least recent) range in the Karnali River, Nepal. If built, this structure would almost certainly eliminate the small amount of dolphin habitat in Nepal’s last river with a potentially viable dolphin population. Disturbance and environmental degradation associated with geotechnical feasibility studies and bridge and road construction for the dam already may have contributed to a decline in the number and range of dolphins orsusuabove the Nepal-India border.[12]. The Ghaghara is the furthest upstream in the dolphin range.

Gangetic Dolphin
Other important protected areas and their biological and religious significance are a) Khaptad NP (2.25 km²), 1984 - Oak, Fir, Conifer, Musk deer, Leopard, Black Bear. Ashram of late Khaptad Baba (sage), Shiva shrine, Khaptad daha - a shallow lake; b) Dhorpatan HR (13.25 km²), 1987- Fir, Hemlock, Spruce, Birch, Junipers, grassland. Game hunting reserve; and c) Royal Suklaphanta - WR (1976) at Kanchanpur (3.05 km²) in the Terai Sal, Acacia, Sisso, extensive grassland, Elephant, Swamp deer, Tiger,Hispid hare, Bengal florican. [4]

White water river rafting

The raft of the ride and river.
White water rafting means cruising down a rushing river in an inflatable rubber raft or white kayak over crashing waves and swirling rapids for the excitement of a lifetime In river rafting terminology. The Karnali River offers, over a length of 180 km, white water thrills and it is rated Grade 4 to 5 and huge volume restricted by canon walls (rafting suitable for expert rafters). Huge volume of water bullet down these canyons in a series of wild rapids. It is so intense that it can only be tackled at low and medium water.

Development projects on the river
In Nepal
The Karnali basin is the first to arouse keen interest in Nepal's vast hydropower development study. There are several attractive sites for the generation of cheap hydroelectric energy in this basin.[13].
The Master Plan Study for Water Resource Development of the Upper Karnali River and Mahakali River Basins (1993) identified 32 potential hydropower projects in the Karnali Basin. Despite the high potential of hydropower development (32,000 MW) in the Basin, only 2,245 kW capacities (from eight micro hydel schemes) has been developed so far.
Considering the pace of hydropower development in Nepal (Out of 83,000 MW potential, only 314.6 MW capacity hydropower projects were targeted for completion by 2007) in general and in the Karnali Basin in particular, harnessing the total hydropower potential of the Basin is envisaged to take a long time. Based on recent water resources development planning and project progress, the likely large scale hydropower projects that will be operational in the Basin by 2025 are predicted to be: West Seti HEP (750 MW); Upper Karnali HEP (300 MW); Bheri-Babai Multipurpose Project (48 MW); and Lohore Khola HEP (58 MW).[14].
West Seti HEP (750 MW)
The proposed West Seti HEP is located on the Seti River in the Far-Western Development Region of Nepal. The West Seti HEP catchment covers the upper 4,022 km² of the Seti River Basin.The West Seti HEP is a large storage project with a rated capacity of 750 MW. The power station is located approximately 63 km upstream of the Seti River confluence with the Karnali River, with the dam site located a further 19.2 km upstream. All project sites, excluding the reservoir area and transmission line corridor, are located in either Doti and/or Dadeldhura Districts. The reservoir area is located in Doti, Dadeldhura, Baitadi and Bajhang Districts. The transmission line corridor is located in Doti, Dadeldhura, Kailali and Kanchanpur Districts. The project has been allocated for development as BOOT project under private sector.
Upper Karnali HEP (300 MW)
The proposed Upper Karnali HEP is located on the main course of the Karnali River and has a catchment area of 20,120 km². This project is one of Nepal's most economically attractive runof- river diversion schemes (300 MW), with daily peaking capacity and high firm energy. Project facilities will be located in three districts: Surkhet, Dailekh and Achham. Project hydrology is based on data from station 240 at Asaraghat. The river is snow fed and the mean annual estimated flow at the headworks is 500 m³/s.The project has been allocated to GMR of India for development on BOOT basis.
Bheri-Babai Multipurpose Project (48 MW)
The Bheri-Babai Multipurpose Project is an inter-Basin water transfer project prioritised for the development of irrigation in Bardia District . The The intake of the Bheri-Babai (BR-1) diversion scheme lies on the Bheri River 45 km upstream of the confluence with the Karnali River. The tailrace outlet is located in the Babai River 20 km upstream of the existing Babai irrigation project diversion weir. The Bheri-Babai project aims to generate electricity and supply additional water to the Babai Irrigation Scheme in the Terai by diverting 40 m3/s of water from the Bheri River into the Babai River. project is yet to undergo a feasibility study.
Lohore Khola HEP (LR-1) – (58 MW)
The Lohore Khola HEP is a proposed reservoir storage project situated on the Lohore Khola, a tributary of the Karnali River in Dailekh District. The project is located a few kilometers downstream from the confluence with Chham River and upstream of Dungeshowr. The catchment area of the Lohore River at the reservoir site is 733 km². Based on the isohyetal map of the Karnali River Basin, average annual rainfall for the Basin is estimated to be 1,539 mm. As there is no stream gauge on the Lohore River, its flow was estimated using data from Station 240 (1963-2000) located on the Karnali River at Asaraghat with a catchment area of 19,260 km2. The sediment flow into the river is estimated to be 2.4 million tonnes per year. As the economic internal rate of return (EIRR) for the project is highest for the draft rate of 0.7, the flow for power generation was estimated for this draft rate. The riparian flow was assumed to be 10% of the monthly minimum flow (i.e. 0.53 m3/s).
Karnali (Chisapani) Multipurpose Project (10,800 MW)
The Karnali (Chisapani) Multipurpose Project site is located in the Karnali Gorge, immediately upstream of the Terai. The project has a catchment area of 43,679 km², covering nearly 30% of Nepal. The long-term average river flow is 1,389 m3/s, with an average dry season flow (November–May) of 451 m3/s and an average wet season flow (June-October) of 2,690 m3/s. The Karnali (Chisapani) Multipurpose Project is a potential mega multipurpose storage project on the Karnali River at Chisapani, envisaging a 270 m high dam, with reservoir area of 350 km², with power station operating under a design head of 185 m to operate 18 units of 620 MW capacity each ( 10,800 MW installed capacity) and with a reregulating wier downstream with power plant of 84 MW capacity operating under a head of 13.5 m. A Large scale irrigation development is also envisaged - 2,380 km² in Nepal and 32,000 km² India. Project planning commenced in 1960, although the feasibility study for the project was only completed in 1989. Before this project is developed a number of significant underlying issues have to be resolved. These issues include: Nepal and India reaching a bilateral agreement on the downstream benefits of regulated river flows; the resettlement of over 60,000 people; the impact on and restoration of habitat within Bardia National Park; and, above all, the financial arrangements for project funding. Accordingly, it is predicted that the chances of this project being implemented before 2025 are very slim, although increasing international pressure on reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the energy generation sector may assist project initiation. While the likelihood of this project being developed by 2025 is low, Nepal and India could cooperate to develop this project to meet India’s growing energy demand from renewable resources.
Irrigation in Nepal
The major existing river use by volume in the Karnali Basin is irrigation. Three areas on the Nepal Terai and two areas in India are irrigated from the Karnali River. Within Nepal, two areas are irrigated in Bardia District (23.2 and 183.4 km²) and a single site is irrigated in Kailali District (139.25 km²). The total demand for irrigation water from the Karnali River by these three areas represents a very small proportion of existing total annual river flows, amounting to a mean annual rate of 54 m3/s. This is equivalent to 3.9% of the 1,370 m3/s mean annual Karnali River flow into India.[15]
Irrigation in India
In India, water is diverted from the Karnali River at the Girijapur Barrage into the Sarda Sahayak Irrigation Scheme and the Saryu Nahar Irrigation Scheme, which have command areas of 20,000 km² and 12,000 km² respectively. The combined annual irrigation demand of these two schemes is approximately 10,000 million m³.[15].
The Sarda Sahayak Irrigation Project, which utilizes the combined flows from the rivers Ghaghra and Sarda, comprises a barrage called the Girija Barrage built across the Ghaghra river (catchment area - 45,500 sqkm) , about 9 km downstream of Khatria Ghat Rly station and 16 km from Nepal border in Bahraich district which is linked to the Lower Sarda Barrage built across the Sarda river (catchment area 17,818 sqkm), about 28 km North East of Lakhimpur Kheri Rly station in Lakhimpur Kheri district. The link canal from Girija Barrage to the Sarda Barrage is 28 km long and designed to divert a discharge of 480 m³/s from gandak to sarda river. The feeder channel taking off from the Lower Sarda Barrage is 258.8 km long, feeds five branches (Dariyabad Branch,Barabani Branch, Haideganj Branch, Raei Bareil branch and Purva Branch) and is designed to carry a discharge of 765 m³/s. The Sarda Sahayak feeder channel meets the Haidergarh branch at 171 km and Raibareli branch at 187 km. The entire cana system is designed to provide irrigation to a Culturalable Command Area (CCA) of 20,000 km² ( considered largest in Asia) to cover 14 districts in 168 blocks with a gross command area of 40,000 km².
On account of high silt flows during the flood season, Sarda Sahayak supplies (from Karnali) are suspended for 100 days between June and October, when the Lower Sarda Canal (feeder canal) draws water from the Sarda River, which is then in floods.[16] and [17].

Navigation
In the past the Karnali River was considered to be attractive for the development of navigation right from the Indo-Nepal border till the confluence of this river and the Ganges. The lower reach of this river – called the Ghaghra in India was used in the past for navigation by steamers. Apart from in the foothills of the Himalayas where most of the streams were simply fast-moving water throughout the greater part of the year and not navigable when flowing rapidly, most of the rivers with steadier currents had boats on them. The Ganga, the Ghaghra, the Yamuna, the Gomti, the Sharda and the Rapti were the most important navigable rivers in the Northwestern provinces and Oudh.
Many items of trade such as timber, food grains, sugar, indigo, cottonseed, poppy seed, and mustard seed were sent through the boats. April, May and June were the most suitable months and were a busy trading period. Different kinds of cargo boats were used on the Ganga, the smaller ones were known as palwars, while the larger ones were known as katris.
In the latter half of the 19th century when the railways came into existence, the significance of waterways as inland trade routes declined, as the railways were faster and safer. With the exception of eastern parts of Bengal where abundance of water in the natural network of channels sustained and continued to provide a suitable mode of transport of goods and people, the railways had almost entirely replaced the waterways as communication lines throughout the country by the end of the 19th century.[18].
The possibilities for further extension of the steamer services to the north had also been explored in the past. The Central Water and Power Commission of the Govt. of India had carried out hydrographical survey of the Karnali River from the Bahramghat to the confluence of this river and the Ganges a distance of 446 km. This survey was done in the years 1943-53 to explore the possibility of improvement and extension of navigation on this river by powered crafts. These surveys revealed that there were only 5 shoals under 90 cm at low water between Burhaj and Bahramghat a distance of about 300 km. The minimum depth was 75 cm. These depths were available without any river conservancy works. All other conditions of navigable channel such as the width and current of flow etc. were also found to be very favourable. The low water stage in this river is only for a short duration. There is a great urgency to carry out detailed study of the Karnali river to develop modern inland waterway by applying various channel improvement technologies.[19]