The Adan River ( mr, अडाण नदी) is a river in

Washim District Washim district (Marathi pronunciation: �aːʃim is a district in Maharashtra, India. The headquarters is at Washim. The area of the district is . Demography and Geography The district had a population of 1,020,216 of which 17.49% were urban ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

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 ...

and a principal

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...

of the

Painganga River The Painganga River (also known as the Penganga River) is the chief river of the Buldhana district, Hingoli district, Nanded district, Yavatmal district, Chandrapur district and Washim district in the Maharashtra state in India. It flows along the ...

Geography

The source of the Adan River is in the

Washim district Washim district (Marathi pronunciation: �aːʃim is a district in Maharashtra, India. The headquarters is at Washim. The area of the district is . Demography and Geography The district had a population of 1,020,216 of which 17.49% were urban ...

. The

Arunavati River Arunavati river is a seasonal tributary of the Tapi river in India. It originates and flows from the Sangvi village and merges into the Tapi river near Uparpind village in Shirpur tehsil. The river flows mostly in monsoon. See also *Painganga ...

meets the Adan River about 13 kilometres before it joins the Painganga River. The river dries up in the summer, leaving only pools towards the end of its course. Two dams have been built on the Adan; one at its origin near Sonala village and the other near

Karanja Lad Karanja Lad is a city of a Municipal council in Washim district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Karanja is also known as Karanja Lad. The town is named after Saint Karanj. It is often also referred as "Lad'anche Karanja" in honor of Muslim ...

city, both in

. The river then flows

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It m ...

. Adan Dam was built in 1977 near

, Washim district around 13 km from where the Adan River meets the Painanga.

Environmental Impact of the Adan Dam

In two separate reports on the

environmental impact Environmental issues are effects of human activity on the biophysical environment, most often of which are harmful effects that cause environmental degradation. Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment on t ...

of the Adan Dam on the aquatic

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

of the river and the surrounding fishing communities in 2008 and 2012, Dr Nilesh K. Heda reported the following effects: * Effect on

Fishing Communities Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from fish stocking, stocked bodies of water such as fish pond, ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. ...

: The new reservoir has led to large areas of the river becoming inaccessible to local anglers who cannot fish for most of the year due to the low water level. The construction of the dam has led to high levels of

siltation Siltation, is water pollution caused by particulate terrestrial clastic material, with a particle size dominated by silt or clay. It refers both to the increased concentration of suspended sediments and to the increased accumulation (temporary or ...

and

hydrophyte Aquatic plants are plants that have adapted to living in aquatic environments (saltwater or freshwater). They are also referred to as hydrophytes or macrophytes to distinguish them from algae and other microphytes. A macrophyte is a plant that g ...

growth. These changes have led to the local

Bhoi In Maharashtra and Gujarat, their traditional occupations include acting as palanquin-bearers. The Bhoi are also found in Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak ...

people having to rely less on their more sustainable, traditional fishing techniques. * Effect on

Aquatic Ecosystem An aquatic ecosystem is an ecosystem formed by surrounding a body of water, in contrast to land-based terrestrial ecosystems. Aquatic ecosystems contain communities of organisms that are dependent on each other and on their environment. The tw ...

: The diversity and abundance of

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

has declined since the construction of the dam. Some species of fish have been completely wiped out from the area of the river about the dam (namely

eutropiichthys vacha Eutropiichthys vacha is a species of schilbid catfish native to India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country i ...

, anguilla bengalensis bengalensis, barilius species, tor khudree, tor mussullah, and gonoproktopterus kolus). Heda reports that local elders noticed that, as well as fish species,

otter Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine, with diets based on fish and invertebrates. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which also includes wea ...

s and

tortoise Tortoises () are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin: ''tortoise''). Like other turtles, tortoises have a turtle shell, shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, ...

s had also been wiped out.

Fish of Adan River

The following species were found to be present in the Adan river by Dr Nilesh Heda: * Acanthocobitis moreh *

Amblypharyngodon mola The mola carplet (''Amblypharyngodon mola'') is a species of carplet in the family Cyprinidae. It is found in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and Myanmar, although IUCN considers its presence certain only in Pakistan, India, and Bangla ...

* Anguilla bengalensis bengalensis * Barilius bendelisis * Other barilius species *

Chanda nama The elongate glassy perchlet (''Chanda nama'') is a species of freshwater fish in the Asiatic glassfish family Ambassidae of order Perciformes, the only species in the genus ''Chanda''. It is native to an area of south Asia from Pakistan to B ...

Channa orientalis The Ceylon snakehead (''Channa orientalis'') is a species of snakehead found in freshwater habitats, typically shaded streams, in southwestern Sri Lanka (although occasionally claimed to occur in other countries, this is misidentifications of r ...

* Channa punctatus * Channa striatus *

Cirrhinus fulungee The Deccan white carp (''Cirrhinus fulungee'') is a species of freshwater cyprinid fish native to Karnataka and Maharashtra in India initially but later to other states after the construction of dams. It is currently widely distributed across t ...

* Danio aequipinnatus * Other danio species * Garra mullya *

Glossogobius giuris ''Glossogobius giuris'', the tank goby, is a species of goby native to fresh, marine and brackish waters from the Red Sea and East Africa through South Asia and the Indian Ocean to China, Australia and the islands of the Pacific Ocean. This spe ...

* Gonoproktopterus kolus *

Labeo rohita The rohu, rui, ruhi or roho labeo (''Labeo rohita'') is a species of fish of the carp family, found in rivers in South Asia. It is a large omnivore and extensively used in aquaculture. Description The rohu is a large, silver-colored fish ...

* Lepidocephalus thermalis *

Macrognathus aral ''Macrognathus aral'', the one-stripe spiny eel, is a small fish from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even i ...

* Mastacembelus armatus *

Mystus bleekeri ''Mystus'' is a genus of fish in the family Bagridae native to Asia. Phylogenetic relationships within this genus are poorly understood, though it has been suggested that there are two major lineages. Species There are currently 46 recognized s ...

Mystus cavasius ''Mystus cavasius'', the Gangetic mystus, is a species of catfish of the family Bagridae. In the wild it is found in Indian Subcontinent countries such as, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Myanmar. Reports of this species from ...

* Other mystus species * Nemacheilus species * Notopterus notopterus *

Ompok bimaculatus ''Ompok bimaculatus'', known as butter catfish, is a species of sheatfishes native to Asian countries such as Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, but recently identified in Myanmar. Known in Thailand Thailand ( ), historical ...

* Oreochromis mossambica * Oreonectes evezardi * Osteobrama cotio peninsularis *

Osteobrama vigorsii ''Osteobrama vigorsii'' is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus ''Osteobrama''. It is known to occur in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Orissa in the drainage systems of the Krishna, G ...

Parambassis ranga ''Parambassis ranga'', commonly known as the Indian glassy fish, Indian glassy perch, or Indian X-ray fish, is a species of freshwater fish in the Asiatic glassfish family Ambassidae of order Perciformes. It is native to an area of South Asia ...

Puntius amphibius The scarlet-banded barb (''Puntius amphibius'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus ''Puntius''. It is found in streams in India and Sri Lanka. It can reach a length of . References

Puntius, amphibius Taxa named by Achille Vale ...

* Puntius sarana sarana *

Puntius sophore The pool barb, spotfin swamp barb, or stigma barb (''Puntius sophore'') is a tropical freshwater and brackish fish belonging to the Puntius genus in the family Cyprinidae. It is native to inland waters in Asia and is found in India, Nepal, Bangla ...

* Other puntius species * Puntius ticto * Rasbora daniconius * Rita species * Salmostoma horai * Salmostoma novacula * Schistura denisoni denisoni * Thynnichthys sandkhol * Tor khudree * Tor mussulah *

Tor tor Tor, TOR or ToR may refer to: Places * Tor, Pallars, a village in Spain * Tor, former name of Sloviansk, Ukraine, a city * Mount Tor, Tasmania, Australia, an extinct volcano * Tor Bay, Devon, England * Tor River, Western New Guinea, Indonesia Sc ...

Wallago attu ''Wallago attu'' is a freshwater catfish of the family Siluridae, native to South and Southeast Asia. It is commonly known as helicopter catfish or wallago catfish. It has known by various names in different regions and languages, such as Borali(� ...

Xenentodon cancila ''Xenentodon cancila'', the freshwater garfish, is a species of needlefish found in freshwater and brackish habitats in South and Southeast Asia. Common names As a reasonably popular aquarium fish, ''Xenentodon cancila'' has been traded under a ...

Local People

The local Bhoi people live in fishing communities on the banks of the river. The Bhoi are traditionally dependent upon the Adan for food and so their traditional way of life is at risk due to depleting fish resources. Bhoi

References

{{fishing history, expanded=villages Fishing communities in India Rivers of Maharashtra Tributaries of the Godavari River Rivers of India