This data book published by Central Water Commission (CWC) is a compendium of important hydrological information on major basins in India. It provides updated site wise data for 12 non-classified basins that covers aspects such as location, drainage area, population, temperature, average runoff, seasonal water flow, historical water levels, average sediment load, water quality parameters and land use statistics. The statistics of year 2006-07 to 2009-10 are used as the base for the data mentioned in the book.
The book is divided into six chapters followed by an exhaustive appendix consisting table on hydrology and land use statistics in river basins.
The introduction of the book briefly discusses about the need for a “comprehensive and reliable” data on hydrological aspects for the purpose of designing and executing any water resource project. Further it lists the non classified river basins that are in the scope of this book.
Chapter 2 elaborates on the physical features of non-classified river basins that include geographical location, topology, topography, major tributaries, soil characteristics, availability of minerals, major industries, urban centres and important irrigation projects including observation sites.
Chapter 3 sheds light on physical features and geo-climatic conditions of river basins along with features like storage capacity, soil characterises, major and medium irrigation projects and flow of water.
Chapter 4 discusses about the problem of sedimentation as it is a major obstruction on the flow line or channel of water. The unmanageable quantity of sediment leads to reduction of the life of water channels.
Chapter 5 is on water quality statistics. The deteriorating quality of water is attributed to increasing domestic and industrial discharge into rivers. Further it points at the fixed tolerance limits of water quality set by Bureau of Indian Standards.
Chapter 6 talks about the land use pattern that has been classified into various categories like (i) forest area (ii) area not available for cultivation (iii) other uncultivated lands excluding fallow land (iv) fallow land (v) net area sown (vi) area sown more than once and (vii) total cropped area.
The data is represented in the form of maps, charts and graphs. The detailed information related to quantity of sediment deposits of rivers, the water quality of supplied from different reservoirs and land use statistics are intricately represented in a tabular format and are part of the appendix.
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