Vishwamitri River: In News
Following heavy overnight rainfall in the catchment area of the Vishwamitri River — the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) recently opened all 62 gates of Ajwa Reservoir to release 6,600 cusecs of water downstream to create a cushion in the reservoir.
- Vishwamitri River is a small non-perennial river, about 200 km in length, located in Gujarat.
- It originates from the western and southern slopes of the Pavagadh hills in eastern Gujarat.
- The river flows westward, through Gujarat’s third-largest city, Vadodara, after which it meets the two tributaries of Dhadar and Jambuva before draining into the Arabian Sea via the Gulf of Khambhat.
- The highly meandering, sinuous river has a unique ecosystem bearing a plethora of beautiful ravines right from its beginning till its end.
- Porcupines, the common Indian civet, the jungle cat, cobras, pythons, the checkered keelback, and the Bengal monitor are some of the species found in the ravines on the banks of this river.
- Vishwamitri is also where the protected and vulnerable species of the Indian crocodile (Crocodylus palustris), also known as the mugger, resides.
- A survey by the Gujarat Forest Department in 2020 found that there were an estimated 300 muggers in the river within Vadodara’s limits.
- Historically, the river has been central to Vadodara’s development, with human settlements along its banks dating back to 1000 B.C.
- Mugger Crocodiles is one of the 24 extant species of crocodilians found globally.
- The crocodile’s common name comes from magar, which translates loosely to “water monster” in the Hindi and Urdu languages.
- The mugger’s geographic range extends from extreme southeastern Iran eastward to Bangladesh and from Nepal and northern India south to Sri Lanka.
- In India it is found in 15 Indian states, with the largest populations in the middle Ganges (Bihar-Jharkhand) and Chambal (Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan) basins.
- It is native to freshwater and inhabits marshes, lakes, rivers and artificial ponds.
- Conservation Status: IUCN: Vulnerable, CITES: Appendix I.
