Kosi (river)
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Koshi Saptakoshi |
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 Koshi reservoir |
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| Data | ||
| location | Nepal , Bihar ( India ) | |
| River system | Ganges | |
| Drain over | Ganges → Meghna → Bay of Bengal | |
| Confluence of |
Sunkoshi , Arun, and Tamor 26 ° 54 ′ 38 " N , 87 ° 9 ′ 42" E |
|
| muzzle | at Kursela in the Ganges coordinates: 25 ° 24 ′ 16 ″ N , 87 ° 15 ′ 33 ″ E 25 ° 24 ′ 16 ″ N , 87 ° 15 ′ 33 ″ E
|
|
| length | approx. 300 km (730 km with the Sunkoshi headwaters) | |
| Catchment area | 86,900 km² (according to other sources: 69,300 km²) | |
| Discharge at the gauge near the mouth |
MQ |
1770 m³ / s |
| Right tributaries | Bagmati | |
The Koshi (also Kosi or Saptakoshi ; Nepali : कोशी, Kośī ) is the easternmost major tributary of the Ganges . It rises in the Himalayan mountains of Nepal and flows into the Ganges in the Indian state of Bihar .
Together with its tributaries, the river drains a total area of about 69,300 km² up to its mouth in the Ganges in India near Kursela east of Bhagalpur . The watershed area is located in Tibet , still north of the Mount Everest region, which, like the eastern third of Nepal, belongs to the catchment area . This is surrounded by mountain ridges that separate it from the catchment areas of the Brahmaputra in the north, the Gandak in the west, the Mahananda in the east and the Ganges in the south.
course
The river, which is often called Sapt Koshi on the Nepalese side , is formed about 48 km north of the Indian-Nepalese border from the Sunkoshi , Arun and Tamor rivers . It initially flows through the 10 km long Chatra Gorge in a southerly direction and then reaches the Ganges plain , where it curves slightly to the southwest and later to the southeast, before flowing into the Ganges on the left. Already on the Nepalese side it divides into several river arms.
During the last 250 years the course of the river has looked for a new river bed several times during floods and shifted about 120 km westwards.
Tributaries and reservoirs
The Bagmati (also called Kareh ), which also comes from Nepal, is the most important tributary of the Koshi in India. On the Nepalese side there is a barrage to regulate the river; however, a real reservoir has not yet been built.
Others
The instability of the river course is due to the high proportion of silt that the water transports during the summer monsoon season. The floods in India have had extreme effects. India has the second highest number of deaths from flooding in the world after Bangladesh . The Koshi, after the Gandak the most important river for draining the northern Bihar Basin , forms one of the most flood-prone areas of India.
Nature reserve
The area of the Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve in southeastern Nepal, established in 1976, has a total area of approx. 176 km² and is mainly used for bird protection; but many farmers in the area also let their cattle graze here.
Web links
- Floods in India Spiegel Online
- 1.2 million homeless people due to floods in India ( Memento from September 4, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Tagesschau
- Why Kosi changed from cat to tiger - warning against plugging breach in The Telegraph India of September 13, 2008
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Article Koshi in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia (BSE) , 3rd edition 1969–1978 (Russian)