The Agniyar River is a non-perennial river in the

Indian state India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, with a total of 36 entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and smaller administrative divisions. History Pre-indepen ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

that flows southeast into 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 between ...

Course

The river begins as a small stream south of Keeranur, proceeding south and east, passing

Karambakkudi Karambakkudi is a panchayat town as well as Taluk in Pudukkottai district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Karambakkudi is located about 40 km from Thanjavur and 40 km from Pudukkottai. This town is located on the border of the Thanj ...

. Southeast of Karambakkudi, the Grand Anicut canal connects to it. The river continues eastward past Sendakkottai, until it is joined by the Maharajasamundram River south of

Pattukkottai Pattukkottai () is a major town in Thanjavur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and also important town in Delta districts and Commercial town of Thanjavur, Thiruvarur and Pudukkottai district Coastal areas. The town came to prominence ...

and west of

Adirampattinam Adirampattinam is a newly established (Dec 2021) Municipality in the Pattukottai taluk of the Thanjavur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is also short known by Adirai. It is the largest coastal town in the district and fourth larg ...

. After this confluence, the river flows south for a short distance, until it empties into the

Palk Strait The Palk Strait ( ta, பாக்கு நீரிணை ''Pākku Nīriṇai'', si, පෝක් සමුද්‍ර සන්ධිය ''Pok Samudra Sandhiya'') is a strait between the Tamil Nadu state of India and the Jaffna Distric ...

south of the village of Rajamadam, in the Pattukkottai taluk of Thanjavur district.http://nwm.gov.in/sites/default/files/Agniyar_Report.pdf

Watershed

The Agniyar River is located with the greater Agniyar basin, which includes the Agniyar's drainage basin, along with the watersheds of the neighboring Ambuliyar and Vellar rivers. This basin is situated to the north of the Pambar basin, and to the south and east of the

Kaveri The Kaveri (also known as Cauvery, the anglicized name) is one of the major Indian rivers flowing through the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The Kaveri river rises at Talakaveri in the Brahmagiri range in the Western Ghats, Kodagu dis ...

basin. The greater Agniyar basin covers 4809 km² of land in the

Pudukkottai Pudukkottai is the administrative headquarters of Pudukkottai District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is a large city located on the banks of the Vellar River. It has been ruled, at different times, by the mutharaiyar dynasty , Cholas, ...

Thanjavur Thanjavur (), also Tanjore, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is the 11th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of South Indian religion, art, and architecture. Most of the Gr ...

Tiruchirappalli Tiruchirappalli () ( formerly Trichinopoly in English), also called Tiruchi or Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with bein ...

Sivaganga Sivaganga () is a city and headquarters of the Sivaganga district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Sivaganga is a rani velunachiyar kingdom of Tamil Nadu. It is an important city in this district for official and commercial purposes. Its ni ...

, and

Dindigul Dindigul, also spelt Thindukkal (), is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of the Dindigul district. Dindigul is located southwest from the state capital, Chennai, away from Tiruchirappalli, away ...

districts, while the smaller Agniyar basin covers 2058 km². 1.9 million people live in the greater basin, while about 823,000 people make up the population of the smaller basin.

Flow

As reported by a gauging station at the final dam across the river, the average yearly flow into the Bay of Bengal was about 90 million

cubic metre The cubic metre (in Commonwealth English and international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures) or cubic meter (in American English) is the unit of volume in the International System of Units (SI). Its symbol is m ...

s of water. However, this average does not account for seasonal changes in precipitation and intermittent flow that result from India's wet and dry seasons.

Irrigation

The river is utilized for extensive irrigation projects, with eight anicuts damming the river and diverting its flow to 1,280 storage tanks and 24,073 hectares of surrounding farmland. Additionally, a pumping station draws water from the river for municipal supply.

Environmental issues

The river suffers from high nitrate and fluoride concentrations that are the result of agricultural runoff. Poor solid waste management and soil erosion also harm the river. In the dry season, sand is sometimes illegally mined from the riverbed for use in construction. This extraction destabilizes the river's ecosystem and contributes to negative effects.

References

Rivers of Tamil Nadu Bay of Bengal {{TamilNadu-stub