The Zuari River ''Zuvari,'' pronounced ) is the largest river in the state of

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

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 ...

. It is a

tidal river A tidal river is a river whose flow and level are caused by tides. A section of a larger river affected by the tides is a tidal reach, but it may sometimes be considered a tidal river if it had been given a separate and another title name. Gene ...

which originates at Hemad-Barshem in the Western Ghats. The Zuari is also referred to as the Aghanashani in the interior regions. It flows in a south-westerly direction through the talukas of Tiswadi, Ponda, Mormugao, Salcete, Sanguem and Quepem. The Zuari is 92 km long, but is connected to other rivers and canals such as Mandovi river (62 km in length) and Cumbarjua Canal (15 km). The other rivers in Goa are shorter such as Terekhol (22 km), Chapora (29 km), Baga (5 km), Sal (16 km), Talpona (11 km), and Galgibag (4 km). Their lengths and widths vary with tidal and other seasonal flooding. The tributaries of Zuari include Kushawati River, Guleli River and Uguem River. The Zuari and

Mandovi River The Mandovi (International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: ) or Mahadayi (International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: ), formerly known as the Rio de Goa, is a river described as the lifeline of the Indian state of Goa. The Mandovi and the Zuari River, Zua ...

s form an estuarine system.Shetye, S. R., Gouveia, A. D., Singbal, S. Y., Naik, C. G., Sundar, D., Michael, G. S., & Nampoothiri, G. (1995). Propagation of tides in the Mandovi-Zuari estuarine network. Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences-Earth and Planetary Sciences, 104(4), 667-682 They are the backbone of Goa's agricultural industry. The

Cumbarjua Canal The Cumbarjua Canal is a distributary channel formed by the merger of the Mandovi and Zuari rivers in Goa, India. Its flow has led to the formation of river deltas; the most prominent of them are Ilhas de Goa, Cumbarjua and St Estevam. The shallo ...

, linking the two rivers has enabled ships navigate to the interior regions to the

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

mines. The waters of the Mandovi and Zuari both flush out into the

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea () is a region of sea in the northern Indian Ocean, bounded on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, Gulf of Aden and Guardafui Channel, on the northwest by Gulf of Oman and Iran, on the north by Pakistan, on the east by India, and ...

at Cabo Aguada, a common point forming the

Mormugao Mormugao is a coastal town situated in the eponymous subdistrict of Southern Goa state, India. It has a deep natural harbour and remains Goa's chief port. Towards the end of the Indo-Portuguese era in 1917, thirty-one settlements were c ...

harbour. The port city of

Vasco da Gama, Goa Vasco da Gama (), often shortened to Vasco, is a city in the state of Goa on the west coast of India. It is named after the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama. It is sometimes also referred to as Sambhaji Nagar after Sambhaji. It is the headq ...

lies on the mouth of the Zuari River.

References

Rivers of Goa Rivers of the Western Ghats {{India-river-stub

See also

References