Which is the highest waterfall in India?

Submitted by aurora on

Jog Fall located at southern state of Karnataka is India's highest waterfall. Created by the Sharavathi River falling from a height of 253 meters (829 ft) is the highest plunge waterfall in India and the 7th deepest in the world. Located in Shimoga District of Karnataka state, It is also called by alternative names of Gerusoppe falls, Gersoppa Falls and Jogada Gundi. The falls are in four distinct cascades called as, Raja, Rani, Roarer and Rocket. Jog Falls during Monsoon. Associated with the waterfall is the nearby Linganmakki Dam across river Sharavathi, and the hydro-electric power station that it serves. The power station has been operational since 1949, and is, at 1200 MW capacity, one of the largest hydro-electric stations in India and a significant source of electric power for Karnataka. The power station was previously named. It was served by Hirebhaskara dam until 1960. After 1960, thanks to visions of Sir M. Visvesvarayya, Linganmakki Dam, built across river Sharavathi is being used for power generation. River Sharavathi splits up into four different tracks which are named in accordance with their perceived trajectories. Going from left to right respectively in the picture, the names and the reasons for naming are:

  • Raja (King): Named so because of its apparently 'dignified' and 'serene' fall.
  • Roarer: This stream appears out of a mass of rocks, making a tremendous amount of noise.
  • Rocket: Consists of a large volume of water streaming out of a small opening at a very high speed.
  • Rani (Queen), also called Lady: The stream has a winding, twisting trajectory, said to resemble the movements of a female dancer.

Linganamakki Dam: The Linganamakki dam located in the Sagara taluk has a length of 2.4 km and was constructed across the Sharavathi river in the year 1964. The dam's height is 1819 feet above sea level. The total capacity of the reservoir is 152 TMC (Thousand Million Cubicfeet). It has a catchment area of nearly 1991.71 km². It receives water mainly from rainfall and also from the Chakra and Savahaklu reservoirs, which are linked through Linganamakki through a canal. The water from Linganamakki dam flows to Talakalale Balancing Reservoir through a trapezoidal canal with a discharge capacity of 175.56 cumecs. Power generation capacity of this dam is 2*27.5 MW.

 

Video of the falls during monsoon season

 

The Sharavathi Hydroelectric project was started to tap the electricity generating potential of the river. There are three power generating stations in this project viz.

  • The Sharavathi Generating Station with 10 Units and an installed capacity of 1035 MW
  • The Linganamakki Dam Powerhouse with 2 units and an installed capacity of 55 MW
  • The Gerusoppa Dam Project with 4 units totalling to 240 MW.

Linganamakki DamWith a major part of the river lying in the Western Ghats, the Sharavathi river basin receives a large amount of rainfall. Mean annual rainfall ranges from 6000 mm in the western side to 1700 mm in the eastern side of the basin. About 95% of the rainfall is received during the month of June to September (July being the rainiest) when the southwest monsoon is at its peak.There is some rainfall in the post monsoon season in the form of thundershowers mostly during October and some rainfall also occurs during the summer months of April and May.Soils in the Sharavathi basin are mainly lateritic in origin and tend to be acidic and reddish to brownish in colour. The various type of soil found here are clay loamy, clayey, clayey-skeletal, and loamy.

Image on right: Linganmakki Dam

The endangered Lion-tailed macaque found in the Sharavathi Valley wildlife sanctuary

 

The endangered Lion-tailed macaque found in the Sharavathi Valley wildlife sanctuary .

 

A part of the Sharavathi river basin was declared as a wildlife sanctuary on 20th April 1972.Spread over an area of 431.23 km²., it has dense evergreen and semi-evergreen forests. Linganamakki reservoir spread over an area of 128.7 km². is a part of this sanctuary. The altitude in the sanctuary varies from 94 to 1102 mts, the highest point being Devarakonda on the southern edge of the sanctuary

Submitted by rajat on Tue, 25-Mar-2008 - 09:03

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Comprehensive and informative!

Submitted by Rupak Sarkar, … (not verified) on Thu, 22-May-2008 - 13:02

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Nohkalikai falls near Cherrapunji (Meghalaya), is the highest "single drop" waterfall in India. Its height is 1100ft (335m) Jog falls is the 11th highest waterfall and 4th highest "single drop" waterfall in India Ref : Wikipedia and World waterfall database. http://www.worldwaterfalldatabase.com/database.php?s=T&t=G&category=cou… Indian Waterfall heights Kunchikal Falls 1,493 feet Barehipani Falls 1,309 feet Langshiang Falls 1,107 feet Nohkalikai Falls 1,100 feet 1 drop Nohsngithiang Falls 1,035 feet 1 drop Dudhsagar Falls 1,017 feet Kynrem Falls 1,000 feet Meenmutty Falls 984 feet Thalaiyar Falls 975 feet 1 drop Barkana Falls 850 feet Jog Falls 829 feet 1 drop