Kali Gandaki

Kali Gandaki
Kali Gandaki near Kagbeni
Data
location	Gandaki , Narayani ( Nepal )
River system	Ganges
Drain over	Gandak  → Ganges  → Indian Ocean
source	in the north of Gandaki (Nepal) 29 ° 17 ′ 20 ″  N , 83 ° 49 ′ 29 ″  E
Source height	6268  m
Association with	Trishuli to Narayani Coordinates: 27 ° 44 ′ 27 "  N , 84 ° 25 ′ 20"  E 27 ° 44 ′ 27 "  N , 84 ° 25 ′ 20"  E
length	approx. 350 km
Catchment area	11,863 km²
Outflow A Eo : 11,863 km²	MQ Mq	700 m³ / s 59 l / (s km²)
Left tributaries	Modi Khola , Aadhi Khola
Right tributaries	Myagdi Khola , Kanthe Khola , Badhighat , Ridi
Reservoirs flowed through	Kali Gandaki A
Small towns	Beni , Baglung , Kushma
Communities	Kagbeni , Jomsom
In Nepal the Gandaki flows through various mountain landscapes. Here near Kagbeni, on the leeward side of the Himalayas, at 2850 m, it flows through a barren, desert-like landscape ...
... and here, only 25 km downstream and about 300 meters lower, it flows through a coniferous forest

The Kali Gandaki ( Nepali : कालीगण्डकी , Kālīgaṇḍakī ; German: "Black Gandaki" because of its dark sediment) is the right source river of the Narayani ( Gandaki ), one of the four great rivers of Nepal . It rises on the northern edge of the Himalayas in Mustang , in the very north of the Gandaki administrative zone on the border with Tibet . There the river is also called Mustang Khola . From there it flows south and pierces the main ridge of the Himalayas. It forms the deepest breakthrough valley in the world , flanked by the 8,000-meter peaks of Dhaulagiri and Annapurna .

Shortly before the Kali Gandaki emerges from the Himalayas, it unites at Ghumawune (Gandaki) with the Trishuli River to form the Narayani.

For centuries, an important trade route between Tibet and India ran along the Kali Gandaki , especially for salt and rice.

Geography and climate

Climate (Nepal)

The humid air masses that are brought in from the Arabian Sea by the Indian summer monsoon , rain down on the southern roof of the Himalayas. Since the Kali Gandaki cuts through the main ridge of the Himalayas, the northern, higher sections of the river valley are in the rain shadow and the southern, lower parts of the valley are on the rainy southern flank of the mountains.

Due to the resulting different annual amounts of precipitation along the course of the river and due to the relatively steep relief, combined with the effects of altitude on the mean annual temperatures, the river crosses various climatic and vegetation zones in relatively short succession. The climate belts are so narrow that some villages have their “own” climate. As an example, three places from north to south are listed:

• Kagbeni ( ⊙ ), north of the main ridge of the Himalayas, 2850  m , on the leeward side of the mountains: Local agriculture (including cereals and apple trees) depends on the irrigation from the river, because there it rains very rarely (average rainfall in July , the rainiest month: 58 mm; annual mean: 328 mm). The landscape resembles a scree desert, with high summer temperatures around 20 ° C.
• Kalopani ( ⊙ ), 30 km further down the river, roughly where the river valley crosses the main ridge, 2500  m above sea level: At first glance, the predominantly coniferous vegetation resembles that of a valley in the Alps. Typical plants there are also sea ​​buckthorn , hemp and bamboo . The maximum daily values ​​can exceed the 20 ° C mark in summer. In July, the rainiest month, an average of 140 mm falls (annual average 659 mm, i.e. twice as much rain falls there as in Kagbeni).
• Tatopani , ( ⊙ ) a further 20 km downstream, south of the main ridge, 1200  m : This area is already dominated by humid tropical conditions, which is expressed, among other things, in the fact that the malaria-transmitting anopheles mosquito occurs there. In July, the rainiest month, the average fall is 377 mm (annual mean 1641 mm), i.e. H. there, on average, more rain falls in July than in Kagbeni over the whole year. Agriculture includes, among other things, the cultivation of bananas and rice .

Due to the location on the leeward side of the mountains, in the north of the main Himalayan ridge, about upstream from Larjung ( ⊙ ), valley winds from south with storm strength can occur in the afternoon . Therefore, Jomsom is usually approached in the morning.

Deepest valley in the world

The Kali Gandaki Valley offers an interesting superlative: between Kalopani and Larjung, where the valley cuts through the main ridge of the Himalayas, the bottom of the deepest valley in the world lies at approx. 2540  m . The difference in altitude between the bottom of the valley and the approximately 12 km to the west of Dhaulagiri ( 8167  m ) is more than 5600  m . The Annapurna ( 8091  m ) rises to the east of the valley . Both peaks are about 34 km apart.

history

The area has a rich history. Finds from the Iron Age indicate an early settlement.

In the headwaters of the Kali Gandaki lies the mystically transfigured upper Mustang with its main town Lo Manthang, which has only been accessible for a few years . The river valley is one of the most popular trekking destinations in the country, the western part of the Annapurna Circuit runs largely through the valley. It is in the Annapurna Conservation Area and tourists must obtain a permit to enter, which must be presented at checkpoints. For this purpose, among other things, the paths and suspension bridges are maintained and maintenance measures are carried out. However, it can happen that the repairs are not kept up, especially during the monsoon season .

Hydropower

A few years ago, the largest hydropower plant in Nepal, Kali Gandaki A , was built just a few kilometers north of Tansen : a 45 km long bend in the river was short-circuited via tunnels, taking advantage of the gradient. In the dry season, hardly any water flows in this loop over a distance of approx. 20 km, so that negative effects on the fauna of the river are feared.

Road construction changes life in the valley

Life in this valley begins to change from the ground up due to the connection to the road network. You can take the bus from Pokhara to Beni on asphalt ; up to Muktinath and Lo Manthang, the unpaved runway on this section is seasonally restricted for off-road vehicles and motorbikes due to the monsoons .

Web links

Commons : Kali Gandaki  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Link portal "Photos from the Annapurna Circuit"

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} geog.ucsb.edu
2. ↑ Annapurna (1: 100,000 map), Nepal map series of the Working Group for Comparative High Mountain Research No. 9, Nelles Verlag, Munich, 1993.
3. ↑ Climate data for Kagbeni on climate-data.org
4. ↑ Climate data for Kalopani on climate-data.org
5. ↑ Suresh Marahatta, Bhawani S. Dangol, Gehendra B. Gurung: Temporal and Spatial Variability of Climate Change over Nepal. Practical Action Nepal Office, 2009, ISBN 978-9937-8135-2-5 , Appendix 1, Precipitation Summary table ( PDF , 5.0 MB, p. 38). Note: Unfortunately, this source does not contain temperature data for Tatopani.
6. ↑ Egger J., Bajrachaya, S., Egger U., Heinrich R., Reuder J., Shayka P., Wendt H., Wirth V. 2000 Diurnal Winds in the Himalayan Kali Gandaki Valley. Part I: Observations , Monthly Weather review, 128, pp. 1106-1122