The Indravati River () in
Nepal
Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...
is a tributary of the
Sun Koshi River.
[Sharma, U. P. (1996). ''Ecology of the Koshi river in Nepal-India (north Bihar): a typical river ecosystem''. In: Jha, P. K., Ghimire, G. P. S., Karmacharya, S. B., Baral, S. R., Lacoul, P. (eds.) ''Environment and biodiversity in the context of South Asia''. Proceedings of the Regional Conference on Environment and Biodiversity, March 7–9, 1994, Kathmandu. Ecological Society, Kathmandu. Pp 92–99.] It used to be called "Melamchi" or
"Melamchu" until the 19th century.
Course
The source of the Indravati River is located in the south-facing slopes of the
Himalayas
The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...
. Its upper course is characterized by a steep gradient, precipitous slopes, huge boulders and rocks in the river valley, and large
rapids
Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep stream gradient, gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Flow, gradient, constriction, and obstacles are four factors that are needed for a rapid t ...
. It flows through alpine, sub-alpine and temperate forests. Settlements occur along its lower course. The Indravati's catchment area includes the eastern slopes of the
Kathmandu
Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...
basin and extends to the Indravati – Sun Koshi water divide.
The Indravati meets the Sun Koshi at Dolalghat, located on the
Arniko Highway that links Kathmandu with the Nepal-
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...
border.
Koshi River system
The Koshi River drains eastern Nepal. It is also known as the Saptkoshi because of the seven rivers joining in east-central Nepal to form this river. The main rivers forming the Koshi River system are the Sun Koshi, Indravati, Tamma Koshi,
Bhote Koshi,
Dudh Kosi
Dudh Koshi (दुधकोशी नदी, ''Milk-Koshi River'') is a river in eastern Nepal. It is the highest river in terms of elevation. Dudh Koshi originates from the glacier lakes at the height of 5,100 meters above sea level and meets Sapt ...
,
Arun and
Tamur Rivers. The Saptkoshi River flows through the
Chatra Gorge in a southerly direction into northern
Bihar
Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...
in India and joins the
Ganges
The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...
.
[
]
Quake
The April 2015 Nepal earthquake
The April 2015 Nepal earthquake (also known as the Gorkha earthquake) killed 8,962 people and injured 21,952 across the countries of Nepal, India, China and Bangladesh. It occurred at on Saturday 25 April 2015, with a magnitude of Moment magni ...
rupture began to the northwest of Kathmandu and propagated eastward for about , rupturing the area directly located under the capital city of Nepal. The rupture ends in the zone of the western fringes of the Indravati river.
References
{{Kosi basin
Rivers of Bagmati Province