The Rushikulya River is one of the major rivers in the state of

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

and covers entire catchment area in the districts of

Kandhamal Kandhamal district is a district in the state of Odisha, India. The district headquarters of the district is Phulbani. Kandhamal is famous for its local turmeric renowned as 'Kandhamal Haldi' which has earned the Geographical indication (GI) tag ...

and

Ganjam Ganjam is a town and a notified area council in Ganjam district in the state of Odisha, India. Brahmapur, one of the major city of Odisha is situated in this district. Geography Ganjam is located at in the Ganjam district of Odisha with an ...

of Odisha. The Rushikulya originates at an elevation of about 1000 metres from Daringbadi hills of the

Eastern Ghats The Eastern Ghats are a discontinuous range of mountains along India's eastern coast. The Eastern Ghats pass through Odisha, Andhra Pradesh to Tamil Nadu in the south passing some parts of Karnataka as well as Telangana. They are eroded and cut ...

range. The place from where the river originates, Daringbadi is called the ' Kashmir of

'. The river lies within the geographical coordinates of 19.07 to 20.19 north latitude and 84.01 to 85.06 east longitude. It meets the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line betwee ...

at Puruna Bandha in Ganjam. Its tributaries are the Baghua, the Dhanei, the Badanadi etc. It has no delta as such at its mouth.

River course

The river flows from the Daringbadi hill station in

district. In the Ganjam district it flows through Surada, Dharakote,

Asika Asika or Aska is a town and a Notified Area Council in Ganjam district in the state of Odisha, India. Fondly known as the Sugar city of Odisha. Asika is a major commercial and transportation hub of Ganjam district. Geography Asika is located a ...

, Pitala,

Purusottampur Purusottampur (also spelt as Purushottampur) is a town and a Notified Area Council in Ganjam district in the Indian state of Odisha. Geography Purusottampur is located at . It has an average elevation of . Demographics According to the 2001 ...

, Taratarini, Pratappur,

Alladigam Alladigam (Also spelt as Aladigam, Alladigaon & Aladigan) is a village in Ganjam District in the Indian State of Odisha. Geography Alladigam is located at . It has an average elevation of 19 metres (62 ft). Total geographical area of Ala ...

, Brahmapur,

and the Chhatrapur block. The river is 165 km long with a total catchment area of 7700 km². The mean monthly flow rate is estimated to be 89.64 cumecs during 1992-93 perio
under Daily rainfall runoff modelling of Rushikulya river, orissa
.

Survey for olive ridley turtles

In 1993, biologists from the Odisha Forest Department and the Wildlife Institute of India learned that large scale nesting of

olive ridley sea turtle The olive ridley sea turtle (''Lepidochelys olivacea''), also known commonly as the Pacific ridley sea turtle, is a species of turtle in the family Cheloniidae. The species is the second-smallest and most abundant of all sea turtles found in ...

s was taking place near the mouth of the Rushikulya River. This area is the location of one of the largest mass nesting (''arribada'') sites of olive ridley sea turtles in India.http://world-turtle-trust.org World Turtle Trust The villages near the mouth are Pali Bandha, Puruna Bandha, Gokhara Kuda and Kantia Pada, where one can find the nesting sites of the olive ridley turtles. These are fishermen's villages.

Urban centres

The city of Brahmapur is situated in the basin and other important towns are Chhatrapur,

, Aska, Bhanjanagar , Bellaguntha and Surada.

Industries

A number of large scale industries have been set up in the basin. Among them are Grasim Industries Ltd-Ganjam Chemical Division (formerly Jayashree Chemical Ltd). Aska Co-operative Sugar Industries Ltd. Nuagam, Aska Spinning Mills, Monorama Chemical Works Ltd., Orissa Tubes Pvt. Ltd., etc. There are about 3360 numbers of small scale industries of different categories mainly food and allied, forest & wood based, rubber and plastic products and

glass Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling ( quenching ...

and

ceramics A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...

. There is enough scope for setting up forest based industries. The basin is rich in mineral wealth. The major economic minerals are

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

, limestone, manganese, sand talc, black sand and grinding materials.

References

External links

Government of Orissa
{{Coord, 19, 55, N, 84, 08, E, source:kolossus-cawiki, display=title Rivers of Odisha Rivers of India