The Vellar River is a river in 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 ...
n state of
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 ...
. It originates in the
Kalrayan Hills
The Kalvarayan Hills are a major range of hills situated in the Eastern Ghats of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Along with the Pachaimalai, Alavaimalai, Javadi, and Shevaroy hills, they separate the Kaveri River basin to the south f ...
, and flows generally eastward through
Salem,
Perambalur
Perambalur is a town in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the headquarters of Perambalur district and Perambalur ''taluk'' (sub-district). census, the town had a population of 49,648.
There are a set of 11th century Buddha statues aroun ...
, and
Cuddalore district
Cuddalore District is one of the 38 districts in the state of Tamil Nadu in India.
History
Since ancient times, the old town has been a seaport. Through the centuries, Cuddalore has been subject to a number of foreign powers including the Net ...
s, before flowing 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 ...
near
Parangipettai
Parangipettai, historically called Porto Novo ("New Port" in Portuguese), is a panchayat town in Cuddalore district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Parangipettai is located on the north bank of the mouth of the Vellar River at a distance of 3 ...
. The river has a total length of , and its drainage basin covers an area of in Cuddalore, Perambalur, Salem,
Kallakurichi
Kallakurichi is a Municipality in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Kallakurichi district in Tamil Nadu. As of 2019, the town had a population of 73528.
Member of the L ...
,
Ariyalur
Ariyalur () is a town and district headquarters of Ariyalur district in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu and is rich in limestone, surrounded with seven cement factories and two sugar factories. The town is located at a distance of from th ...
,
Namakkal
Namakkal () is a special grade municipality and the headquarters of Namakkal district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the first ISO 14001-2004 certified municipality in Asia for environmental management, specifically the provision a ...
,
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 ...
, and
Dharmapuri district
Dharmapuri is one of the 38 districts in the state of Tamil-Nadu, India. It is the first district created in Tamil Nadu after the independence of India by splitting it from then-Salem district on 2 October 1965. Dharmapuri District is one of t ...
s.
History
The river was historically important for trade in the
Coromandel Coast
The Coromandel Coast is the southeastern coastal region of the Indian subcontinent, bounded by the Utkal Plains to the north, the Bay of Bengal to the east, the Kaveri delta to the south, and the Eastern Ghats to the west, extending over an ...
. Several
factories
A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. T ...
and ports were set up by Europeans at Parangipettai, at the mouth of the river. Settlements were established by the Portuguese, Swedish, and English.
Course
The Vellar River originates at the confluence of the Anaimaduvu and Kallar rivers, which join each other at Ramanathapuram village in
Vazhapadi taluk, Salem district. The Anaimaduvu River originates at the Anaimaduvu reservoir to the north of the confluence, and flows past
Belur
Belur may refer to:
Places
* Belur, Karnataka, a town in Karnataka, India
** Belur temple (Chennakeshava temple), Belur
* Belur, Tamil Nadu, a town in Salem district, Tamil Nadu, India
* Belur, West Bengal, a neighbourhood of Howrah, India
** Be ...
, while the Kallar River originates to the northeast of the confluence. From its source, the Vellar flows to the southeast within Salem district. It is joined by the Periyar River from the west and on its right bank, at Vaithigoundanpudur village.
The Vellar continues southeast, passing south of
Ethapur, northeast of
Pethanaickenpalayam
Pethanaickenpalayam (also spelled as Peddanayakkanpalayam or shortened to P.N. Palayam) is a town panchayat and headquarters of Peddanayakkan Palayam taluk, in Salem district, Tamil Nadu, India.
Geography
Pethanaickenpalayam is located within ...
, and southwest of Kalpagnur. At
Narasingapuram and at Kattukkottai, the Vellar is joined from the southwest and on its right bank by the Chitraru River and Manjini River, respectively. After this confluence, the Vellar flows east through
Attur taluk
Attur Taluk is one of the ''taluks'', or administrative division of Salem District in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. The division's headquarters is Attur town.
Background
Attur Taluk is surrounded by Gangavalli Taluk on east and Pethanaickenp ...
, passing to the south of
Attur
Attur or Aathur is a town, municipality and headquarters of Attur taluk in the Salem district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. As of the 2011 census, the town had a population of 61,793. Attur is growing economically.
Transport
Attur is ...
, until it leaves Salem district near
Aragalur
Aragalur ("six moat place") is a village in Salem district, Tamil Nadu, India. It is about 6 km from Thalaivasal and 70 km from Salem.
Etymology
Aragalur literally means "six moat place" or the village having six moats. The moats were ...
.
As it flows out of Salem district, it turns southeast, and defines part of the border between Kallakurichi and Salem districts. It also defines the entirety of Perambular district's northern border, which is with Kallakurichi and Cuddalore districts. South of Velluvadi, the Ellar River joins the Vellar on its right bank and from the west. East of
V.Kalathur, the Vellar is again joined on its right bank and from its west by the
Swetha River, its second largest tributary. The section of the river before this confluence is sometimes referred to as the Upper Vellar or Vashista Nadhi River, while the section between the confluence and the Vellar's mouth is called the Lower Vellar. After this point the river again flows east, passing to the north of
Labbaikudikadu
Labbaikudikadu is a town located in the northeastern part of Perambalur district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is classified as an urban area. and governed locally by a panchayat.
Demographics
As of the 2011 Census of India, Labbaikudik ...
and
Ogalur.
The river leaves Perambular district southeast of
Tittakudi. Between this location and a meander southeast of
Pennadam, the river receives two rivers on its right bank and from the southwest, and defines the border between Cuddalore and Ariyalur districts. It is joined first by the Chinnar River, and then by the Anaivari or Kattodai River. Northeast of
Srimushnam
Srimushnam is a town panchayat, and the headquarters of Srimushnam taluk, in Cuddalore district, Tamil Nadu, India. The town is sacred to Hindus and Buddhists. It is one of the eight Svayam Vyakta Ksetras of Vaishnavism, and is known for Bhu Va ...
the Vellar River is joined by its largest and only left-bank tributary, the
Manimuktha River
The Manimuktha River is a river in the Kallakurichi and Cuddalore districts of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by popul ...
. From here, the river flows east through Cuddalore district. It passes by several towns, including
Sethiathoppu
Sethiathoppu () is a panchayat town in Bhuvanagiri, Tamil Nadu. It is situated on a crossroads of the Chennai–Thanjavur (National Highway 24) highway. The town was established as a civilian town by the Cholas in the 11th century C.E. According ...
and
Bhuvanagiri. It flows between
Killai
Killai is a second-grade panchayat town in the Chidambaram taluk of the Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu, India.
Geography
Killai is spread over of land in the Chidambaram taluk of Cuddalore district. It is located at , at the mouth of the Vell ...
and Parangipettai, and 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 ...
, in
Chidambaram taluk, Cuddalore district, where it forms a small
bar-built estuary.
Basin
The
drainage basin
A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...
of the Vellar River is one of the 17 major river basins of
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 ...
, and covers of land in 8 districts. The basin is bordered by the
Kaveri River
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 dist ...
basin to the south and west, the
Ponnaiyar River
The South Pennar River (also known as ''Dakshina Pinakini'' in Kannada and ''Thenpennai or Ponnaiyar'' or ''Pennaiyar'' in Tamil) is a river in India. Bangalore, Hosur, Tiruvannamalai, and Cuddalore are the important cities on the banks of Sou ...
basin to the north, and the
Paravanar River basin and the Bay of Bengal to the east. The basin had a population of 3,963,645 in 2011, resulting in a population density of .
The basin is usually divided into seven sub-basins, which correspond to the drainage area of a major tributary within the river system. The seven sub-basins are of the Lower Vellar, Manimuktha,
Gomukhi, Upper Vellar, Swetha, Chinnar, and Anaivari rivers. The largest of these sub-basins is that of the Upper Vellar, while the smallest is of the Anaivari. There are 5 major bodies of water, those being the Anamaiduvu, Kariakovil, Gomukhi, and Manimuktha reservoirs, along with
Wellington Lake
Wellington Lake is a lake situated in the Keelachiruvoi and Pulivalam Villages,(Near Tittakudi) Tittakudi taluk of the Cuddalore district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the second-largest lake in Tamil Nadu after the Veeranam Lake, whi ...
.
Land use and geology
The majority of land in the basin, about 68%, is used for agriculture. The most commonly grown crops are rice and sugarcane. About 16% of the land is forested, with large areas of
reserve forests in the northwest and southwest of the basin. The remaining area is mostly cleared but uncultivated land, part of built-up settlements, or part of a reservoir or lake. Generally, the basin is more flat, cultivated, and level in the east, while it tends to be more hilly and forested to the west and inland.
Deposits of
charnockite
Charnockite () is any orthopyroxene-bearing quartz-feldspar rock formed at high temperature and pressure, commonly found in granulite facies metamorphic regions, ''sensu stricto'' as an endmember of the charnockite series.
Charnockite series
The ...
and fissile
hornblende
Hornblende is a complex inosilicate series of minerals. It is not a recognized mineral in its own right, but the name is used as a general or field term, to refer to a dark amphibole. Hornblende minerals are common in igneous and metamorphic rocks ...
gneiss
Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures an ...
are the most common geological deposits in the west of the basin.
Limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
, magmatite gneiss and deltaic deposits are more common in the east of the basin. Structural hill and valley fill
denudation
Denudation is the geological processes in which moving water, ice, wind, and waves erode the Earth's surface, leading to a reduction in elevation and in relief of landforms and landscapes. Although the terms erosion and denudation are used interch ...
al landforms are most common in the west. In the central region and towards the mouth of the river,
fluvial
In geography and geology, fluvial processes are associated with rivers and streams and the deposits and landforms created by them. When the stream or rivers are associated with glaciers, ice sheets, or ice caps, the term glaciofluvial or fluviog ...
landforms and
floodplain
A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...
s are more common. The dominant soil types in the basin are
inceptisol
Inceptisols are a soil order in USDA soil taxonomy. They form quickly through alteration of parent material. They are more developed than Entisols. They have no accumulation of clays, iron oxide, aluminium oxide or organic matter. They have an o ...
s,
vertisol
A vertisol, or vertosol, is a soil type in which there is a high content of expansive clay minerals, many of them known as montmorillonite, that form deep cracks in drier seasons or years. In a phenomenon known as argillipedoturbation, alternat ...
s, and
alfisol
Alfisols are a soil order in USDA soil taxonomy. Alfisols form in semi-arid to humid areas, typically under a hardwood forest cover. They have a clay-enriched subsoil and relatively high native fertility. "Alf" refers to aluminium (Al) and iron ( ...
s. There is a minor area near the river mouth where
entisol
Entisols are soils defined in USDA soil taxonomy that do not show any profile development other than an A horizon. An entisol has no diagnostic horizons, and most are basically unaltered from their parent material, which can be unconsolidated sedi ...
s are the prevailing type.
Irrigation and flow
The average annual rainfall in the Upper Vellar sub-basin was , while the average annual rainfall in the Lower Vellar sub-basin was . Rainfall is greatest in both sub-basins during the
Northeast and Southwest monsoons, between June and December. Rainfall is greatly reduced during the
dry season
The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The te ...
, between January and May.
The Upper and Lower Vellar irrigate a total area of of land for agricultural purposes. There are also demands on the river for water supply from domestic and industrial sources. As a result of the monsoon cycles, the Vellar is
non-perennial, and does not flow year-round. The greatly reduced flow during the dry season generally cannot handle water demands from various sources. However, during the
wet season
The wet season (sometimes called the Rainy season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. It is the time of year where the majority of a country's or region's annual precipitation occurs. Generally, the sea ...
, the Vellar does experience flooding issues.
River modifications
Several bridges and dams cross the river along its course. There are three dams, all along the course of the lower section of the Vellar. Those dams are at
Tholudur, Pelandurai, and
Sethiathoppu
Sethiathoppu () is a panchayat town in Bhuvanagiri, Tamil Nadu. It is situated on a crossroads of the Chennai–Thanjavur (National Highway 24) highway. The town was established as a civilian town by the Cholas in the 11th century C.E. According ...
. Many road bridges cross the river, along with 4
national highways
National Highways, formerly the Highways Agency and later Highways England, is a State-owned enterprise, government-owned company charged with operating, maintaining and improving Roads in England, motorways and major A roads in England. It al ...
, those being
NH 79,
NH 38,
NH 36, and
NH 32. Additionally, three railroad bridges cross the river.
Modifications have also been made to waterways surrounding the river. Several supply channels divert water from the Vellar to other areas of land or to other bodies of water. One such channel diverts water from the Vellar into
Wellington Lake
Wellington Lake is a lake situated in the Keelachiruvoi and Pulivalam Villages,(Near Tittakudi) Tittakudi taluk of the Cuddalore district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the second-largest lake in Tamil Nadu after the Veeranam Lake, whi ...
.
See also
*
List of rivers of Tamil Nadu
{{Use Indian English, date=August 2020
This article lists the main rivers of Tamil Nadu. Out of the below rivers, Kaveri , Thenpennai, Palar, are the three largest rivers of Tamil Nadu followed by Vaigai River, Noyyal River, Cheyyar River, Then ...
References
{{Eastern Ghats
Rivers of Tamil Nadu
Rivers of India