SR-2/98-99 : Hydrological inventory of south Bihar river basins

Abstract

Hydrological information of a region provide the basic database for water resources planning and management. Without the knowledge of hydrological properties, neither a management approach nor a planning can achieve its goal. Hence. in this report an attempt is made to compile the hydrological information of all the river basins in So h Bihar.

The state of Bihar, the ninth largest in size in the country is bounded by Himalayan foot hills and terrai region of Nepal on the north, West Bengal on the east, Orissa on the south and Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh on the west. The state comprises alluvial plains of Indo-Gangetic basin in the north and Kaimur-Chotanagpur-Santhal Pargana plateau in the south. The alluvial plains is divided into two by the river Ganga flowing from west to east The Govt. of Bihar has physiographically divided the state into three regions, namely, North Bihar (comprising, the tract of alluvial plains north of Ganga), Central Bihar (comprising the flat alluvial plains having the Ganga on the north and the area to the west of Rajmahal hills and north of the Kaimur-Chotanagpur-Santhal Pargana plateau) and South Bihar (comprising the Kaimur-Chotanagpur-Santhal Pargana plateau). However, in this report, the river basins of both Central and South Bihar has been treated as the river basins of South Bihar.

The hydrological information of seventeen different river basins of South Bihar have been compiled. The basin wise information regarding the location, areal extent, river system, land use pattern, soils, rainfall, surface and ground water resources, nature of hydrological problem and the location of gauge and discharge sites in each river basin have been presented.