|
The Narmada also called the ''Rewa'', is a river in central India and the fifth longest river in the Indian subcontinent. It is the fourth longest river that flows entirely within India, after the Ganga, the Godavari, and the Krishna. It is also known as "Life Line of Madhya Pradesh" for its huge contribution to the state of Madhya Pradesh in many ways. It forms the traditional boundary between North India and South India and flows westwards over a length of before draining through the Gulf of Cambay into the Arabian Sea, west of Bharuch city of Gujarat. It is one of only three major rivers in peninsular India that run from east to west (longest west flowing river), along with the Tapti River and the Mahi River. It is one of the rivers in India that flows in a rift valley, flowing west between the Satpura and Vindhya ranges. The other rivers which flow through rift valley include Damodar River in Chota Nagpur Plateau and Tapti. The Tapti River and Mahi River also flow through rift valleys, but between different ranges. It flows through the states of Madhya Pradesh (), and Maharashtra, ()– () then along the border between Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra ( and the border between Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat and in Gujarat (). The ''Periplus Maris Erythraei'' (c. 80 AD) calls it the Nammadus, and the British Raj called it the Nerbudda or Narbada.〔11th edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica.〕 ''Narmadā'' is a Sanskrit word meaning "the Giver of Pleasure".〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/monier/ )〕 == River regime == The source of the Narmada is a small bowl, known as the Narmada Kund, located at Amarkantak on the Amarkantak hill in the Anuppur District zone of the Shahdol of eastern Madhya Pradesh. The river descends from Sonmud, then falls over a cliff as Kapildhara waterfall and meanders in the hills, flowing through a tortuous course crossing the rocks and islands up to the ruined palace of Ramnagar. Between Ramnagar and Mandla, (), further southeast, the course is comparatively straight with deep water devoid of rocky obstacles. The Banger joins from the left. The river then runs north–west in a narrow loop towards Jabalpur. Close to this city, after a fall of some (), called the Dhuandhara, the fall of mist, it flows for (), in a deep narrow channel through the magnesium limestone and basalt rocks called the Marble Rocks; from a width of about , above, it is compressed in this channel of (), only. Beyond this point up to its meeting the Arabian Sea, the Narmada enters three narrow valleys between the Vindhya scarps in the north and the Satpura range in the South. The southern extension of the valley is wider at most places. These three valley sections are separated by the closely approaching line of the scarps and the Satpura hills. Emerging from the Marble Rocks the river enters its first fertile basin, which extends about , with an average width of , in the south. In the north, the valley is limited to the Barna–Bareli plain terminating at Barkhara Hills opposite Hoshangabad. However, the hills again recede in the Kannod plains. The banks are about () high. It is in the first valley of the Narmada that many of its important tributaries from the south join it and bring the waters of the northern slopes of the Satpura Hills. Among them are: the Sher, the Shakkar, the Dudhi, the Tawa (biggest tributary) and the Ganjal. The Hiran, the Barna, the Choral, the Karam and the Lohar are the important tributaries joining from the north. Below Handia and Nemawar to Hiran fall (the deer's leap), the river is approached by hills from both sides. In this stretch the character of the river is varied. The Omkareshwar island, sacred to the Lord Shiva, is the most important river island in Madhya Pradesh. At first, the descent is rapid and the stream, quickening in pace, rushes over a barrier of rocks. The Sikta and the Kaveri join it below the Khandwa plain. At two points, at Mandhar, about, below Nemawar, and Dadrai, , further down near Punasa, the river falls over a height of about . A few kilometres further down near Bareli and the crossing ghat of the Agra to Mumbai road, National Highway 3, the Narmada enters the Mandleshwar plain, the second basin about long and wide in the south. The northern strip of the basin is only . The second valley section is broken only by Saheshwar Dhara fall. The early course of about up to Markari falls is met with a succession of cataracts and rapids from the elevated table land of Malwa to the low level of Gujarat plain. Towards the west of this basin, the hills draw very close but soon dwindle down. Below Makrai, the river flows between Vadodara district and Narmada district and then meanders through the rich plain of Bharuch district of Gujarat state. The banks are high between the layers of old alluvial deposits, hardened mud, gravels of nodular limestone and sand. The width of the river spans from about at Makrai to near Bharuch and to an estuary of at the Gulf of Cambay. An old channel of the river, to south from the present one, is very clear below Bharuch. The Karanjan and the Orsing are the most important tributaries in the original course. The former joins at Rundh and the latter at Vyas in Vadodara district of Gujarat, opposite each other and form a Triveni (confluence of three rivers) on the Narmada. The Amaravati and the Bhukhi are other tributaries of significance. Opposite the mouth of the Bhukhi is a large drift called Alia Bet or Kadaria Bet. The tidal rise is felt up to above Bharuch, where the neap tides rise to about a metre and spring tide . The river is navigable for vessels of the burthen of 95 tonnes (i.e., 380 Bombay candies) up to Bharuch and for vessels up to 35 tonnes (140 Bombay candies) up to Shamlapitha or Ghangdia. The small vessels (10 tonnes) voyage up to Tilakawada in Gujarat. There are sand bases and shoals at mouth and at Bharuch. The nearby island of Kabirvad, in the Narmada River, features a gigantic Banyan tree, which covers .〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Gujarat )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Narmada River」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|