Haryana Rivers Profile

Summary of Rivers in Haryana                                                                              

About Haryana

Location: Northwest India, Carved out of Punjab in 1st November 1966; Area: 44212 sq km. Mostly Gangetic/ Trans-Gangetic Plains; Population: 253.53 lakhs (2011); 4 River Basins, 21 Districts; Climate- Arid to semi-arid with average rainfall

Rivers in Haryana fall mainly within Indus and Ganga basins. River Ghaggar sub basin and its tributaries in the west of the state caters to the Indus basin, while river Yamuna and its tributaries in the east make up the portion of the Ganga basin. 

Basic details of Rivers flowing in/ through Haryana state

SN	Name of Rivers	Length* (km)	Origin	Tributaries	Dam/ Barrages
1	Ghaggar	250	Shivalik HillsHimachal, Haryana Border	MarkandaSaraswati Kaushalaya	Ottu Barrage in Sirsa
2	Kaushalya	20	Shivalik Hills	No Information	Kaushalya Dam
3	Markanda	90	Shivalik Hills	Begna	Barrage at Jalbehra in Kurukshetra
4	Tangri /Dangri	70	Shivalik Hills	Many seasonal streams	None
5	Saraswati/Sarsuti	?	Shivalik HillsHimachal, Haryana Border	Seasonal Shivalik streams	None
6	Choutang	09	Shivalik Hills	Seasonal streams	None
7	Dohan	50	Aravali Hills Range	Seasonal Streams	Hamidpur Check Dam
8	Krishanvati / Kasunti	30	Aravali Hills RangeRajasthan, Haryana Border	Season Aravali Streams	Norana Check Dam Rajasthan
9	Yamuna	350	Bandar Punch Glacier,Uttarakhand	Somb, Thapana,  Sahibi	Hathini Kund Barrage
10	Somb	40	Shivalik HillsYamuna Nagar	Pathrala   (Bali Nadi)	Dadupur Barrage
11	Thapana	15	Shivalik Tarai		No Structure
12	Sahibi	120	Aravali Hills	Sota, Kotkasim, Indori	Masani

Google earth image of Haryana Rivers (by Bhim)

Status of Rivers in Haryana 

• Ghaggar (Kaushalaya, Markanda, Tangari, Sarsuti, Chautang, Saraswati)Due to excessive catchment degradation, the main stem of Ghaggar River has turned seasonal all through its entire length. Same is true for its key tributaries like Markanda, Tangari, Chautang, Kaushalaya. All these rivers originating from Shivalik further are at the receiving end of industrial pollution coming from Kala Abm, Himachal and domestic sewage being discharged into these streams by towns and villages located along their banks. Apart from this floodplains of these rivers has been totally taken by chemical and water intensive farming activities which also has been causing immense damage to the River Ghaggar and its tributaries. Hence River Ghaggar all through its ~250 km length within in Haryana is in RED category.

• Yamuna (Somb, Thapana, Sahibi) Hathini Kund Barrage, Yamuna Nagar has virtually deprived the river of environmental flow, hence the river for its entire length ~200 km upstream Delhi is turned seasonal. The river also receives industrial and domestic wastes in huge amount from Yamuna Nagar, Panipat and Sonipat district in this stretch. The about ~100 km stretch downstream Delhi upto Hodal in Palval is in highly polluted state. Illegal sand mining is rampant and floodplains are under cultivation. The conversion of floodplain into real estate is happening at alarming rate in NCR either side of the river. All this has made the river get into RED River Somb is also a rainfed river. Only Thapana rivulet is in perennial state supporting astounding biodiversity along its tiny length.

• Sahibi (Sota river, Kotkasim drain and Indori river) Like its origin State Rajasthan, Sahibi River has turned a monsoonal river in Haryana. In lower parts, many small towns including millennium city Gurugram discharges volume of pollution in the river. The streams joining the river are also ecologically dead. Hence the entire course ~ 100 km of River Sahibi in Haryana is in RED. 

• Krishnavati (Dohan) Krishnavati and Dohan rising from Aravali hills, Rajasthan do enter the Haryana state. Where the already dry courses of both rain fed streams soon become invisible. These streams were believed to be part of Saraswati.  

Haryana Rivers Health Matrix

A report by Manoj Misra (yamunajiye@gmail.com)      

& Bhim Singh Rawat (we4earth@gmail.com) SANDRP

NOTES:-

• This report was commissioned for India Rivers Week 2016. 
• The Haryana Drainage map has been put together by a WWF Team led by G Areendran, the names of the rivers have been provided by an INTACH Team led by Dr. Manu Bhatnagar.
• Names in bracket represent the Key tributaries; RED color is for (Critical) status; BLUE is for (Safe) status and rest are PINK (Threatened) status.
• Its a short description, for detail report kindly explore the link Haryana Rivers Profile
• You may also like to see rivers profiles for Rajasthan, West Bengal, North-East India, Maharashtra states 
• The same report can also be seen on India Rivers Week Blog