Sunset on river Sarada near Anakaplli Visakhapatnam

River Sarada is a medium-sized

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

in Visakhapatnam district of

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The geographic coordinates of the river are north latitude 17 25 to 18 17 and east longitude of 82 32 to 83 06. 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 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 ...

. 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, 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 ...

. The basin is surrounded by

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

in the north,

River Gosthani The Gosthani 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 before joining the Bay of Bengal ...

, Gambiramgedda, Megadrigedda in the east Bay of Bengal in the South and Machhkund sub-basin of the River Godavari in the west.

Visakhapatnam , image_alt = , image_caption = From top, left to right: Visakhapatnam aerial view, Vizag seaport, Simhachalam Temple, Aerial view of Rushikonda Beach, Beach road, Novotel, Novotel Visakhapatnam, INS Kursura (S20), INS ...

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. The town is spread over an area of , which is under the jurisdiction of Visakhapatnam ...

and

Anakapalli Anakapalli is a city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the headquarters of Anakapalli district. The municipality was merged with the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation. It has the second largest jaggery market of the coun ...

are important towns in the basin.

Historical Importance

The famous

Bojjannakonda Bojjannakonda and Lingalakonda are two Buddhism rock-cut caves on adjacent hillocks, situated near a village called Sankaram, Anakapalle of ancient Kalinga. in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The sites are believed to date between 4th and 9 ...

and Lingalakonda

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

cave monastery remains near

and The

Kotturu Dhanadibbalu Kotturu Dhanadibbalu & Pandavula Guha 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 Pincode 531061 History This is an ancient Buddh ...

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 (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-lar ...

mandals in Visakhapatnam district. 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 dam with 93 million cubic meters live storage capacity was constructed in the year 1981 for supplying irrigation water.

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 Rivers of India