River Sarada is a medium-sized

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

in Alluri Sitharama Raju and

Anakapalli Anakapalli (, ) is a suburb of Visakhapatnam city, located within the jurisdiction of the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation. It contains India's second largest jaggery market. History The town was ruled by the Kalinga Empir ...

districts of

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The catchment area of the basin is 2,665 square kilometers. It rises at an elevation of 1,000 meters in the

Eastern Ghats The Eastern Ghats is a mountain range that stretches along the East Coast of India, eastern coast of the Indian peninsula. Covering an area of , it traverses the states and union territories of India, states of Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Prade ...

. It runs eastwards for a distance 122 kilometers and joins the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. Geographically it is positioned between the Indian subcontinent and the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese peninsula, located below the Bengal region. Many South Asian and Southe ...

. The basin is surrounded by

River Nagavali The River Nagavali also known as Langulya is one of the main rivers of Southern Odisha and Andhra States in India, between Rushikulya and Godavari basins. Origin and course Nagavali River originates from a hill near Lakhbahal village in T ...

in the north,

River Gosthani The Gosthani river is a river in India. It rises in the Ananthagiri Hills of the Eastern Ghats and flows through the Borra Caves which lie near its source. It is the largest river flowing through Visakhapatnam city. It flows for 120 km be ...

, Gambiramgedda, Meghadri Gedda in the east Bay of Bengal in the South and Machhkund sub-basin of the

River Godavari The Godavari (, �od̪aːʋəɾiː is India's second longest river after the Ganga River and drains the third largest basin in India, covering about 10% of India's total geographical area. Its source is in Trimbakeshwar, Nashik, Maharashtr ...

in the west.

Visakhapatnam Visakhapatnam (; List of renamed places in India, formerly known as Vizagapatam, and also referred to as Vizag, Visakha, and Waltair) is the largest and most populous metropolitan city in the States and union territories of India, Indian stat ...

is the major city in the basin.

Yelamanchili Elamanchili is a town in Anakapalli district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipality and also the mandal headquarters of Elamanchili mandal.it is a Second biggest Town in Anakapalle District After Anakapalle. The town is sp ...

and

are important towns in the basin.

Historical importance

The famous

Bojjannakonda Bojjannakonda and Lingalakonda are two rock-cut caves of Buddhist origin on adjacent hillocks situated near the village of Sankaram, Anakapalle of ancient Kalinga in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The sites are believed to have been esta ...

and Lingalakonda

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

cave monastery remains near

and The

Kotturu Dhanadibbalu Kotturu Dhanadibbalu is an ancient Buddhist site near Kotturu village of Rambilli mandal Visakhapatnam District of Andhra Pradesh. A post office is located at Kotturu Village with Pin code 531061. History This is an ancient Buddhist remain sit ...

near Gokivada forest entrance are located on the left bank of the river. The River Sarada is a major base for irrigation in Visakha district.

Irrigation projects

Pedderu medium irrigation project is constructed on Pedderu a tributary of the Sarada river near Ravipalem village. The project is aimed to irrigate in the

Madugula Madugula is a village in Anakapalli district in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India. It was also known as Vaddadi or Vaddadimadugula and was founded by the rulers of the Matsya dynasty. Later, it merged into the kingdom of Nandapur–Jeypore and ...

and

Ravikamatham Ravikamatham is a village and mandal headquarters of Ravikamatham mandal in Anakapalli district in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries ...

mandals in

Anakapalli district Anakapalli district is a district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It was formed on 4 April 2022 from Anakapalli and Narsipatnam revenue divisions of the old Visakhapatnam district. The administrative headquarters are at Anakapalli. San ...

. The catchment area of the reservoir site is extended over 160 square kilometers. An Anacatta with two big gates, was constructed on the river near Gokivada village to utilise the maximum water for irrigation in Yellamanchili, Ramballi, Atchutapuram mandals.

Raiwada Reservoir Sri Varada Narayana Murty Raiwada Reservoir Project or Raiwada Reservoir is a reservoir constructed across the Sarada River near Raiwada village, Devarapalli mandal, Anakapalli district, 58 km from Visakhapatnam city. It is one of the mai ...

with 93 million cubic meters live storage capacity was constructed in the year 1981 for supplying water for irrigation and industrial use.

Gallery

References

{{coord, 17, 26, N, 82, 52, E, display=title, region:IN_type:river_source:GNS-enwiki Rivers of Andhra Pradesh Geography of Visakhapatnam district