Country India | ||
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Kopili River is an interstate river in Northeast India that flows through the states of Meghalaya and Assam and is the largest south bank tributary of the Brahmaputra in Assam.
Contents
Map of Kopili River
Course
The Kopili originates in the Meghalaya plateau and flows through southern Assam before its confluence with the Brahmaputra. In Assam it drains the districts of Karbi Anglong, Dima Hasao, Kamrup and Nagaon. The river flows for a total length of 290 kilometres (180 mi) and has a catchment area of 16,420 square kilometres (6,340 sq mi). It is noted for several spectacular waterfalls along its course which has several deep gorges and rapids in the 120 kilometres (75 mi) of its flow before debouching into the plains at Nagaon district.
Waterworks
Completed in 1975, the Kopili Flow Irrigation Scheme in Kamrup district irrigates 1,300 hectares (3,200 acres) of land across 14 revenue villages and facilitates paddy cultivation. The Kopili Hydro Electric Project, located across the districts of North Cachar Hills in Assam and Jaintia Hills in Meghalaya and run by the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation, consists of the Khandong and Umrongso dams and their reservoirs and three power houses that have a total installed capacity of 275 MW.
Environmental issues
The Kopili has as many as 54 species of fish in it. Unscientific opencast coal mining in the Kopili's upper reaches in Meghalaya has led to acidification of the river which has in turn left part of the river's course biologically dead, making the water unfit for human consumption and has led to frequent outages at the Kopili Hydro Electric Project's dams.