Sahibi River

Geography

The Sahibi River originates from the eastern slopes of the Saiwar Protected Forest hills in Aravalli Range near Jitgarh and Manoharpur in Sikar district of Rajasthan state. After covering about 157 km distance in the Rajasthan state. After gathering volume from a hundred tributaries, the Sahibi River forms a broad stream around Alwar and Kotputli. The main tributaries of Sahibi are Sota river, Kotkasim drain and Indori river (Indori Nallah). In some of its reaches, from Mandawar and Kotkasim to Haryana border, meandering of the river causes bank erosion.

It leaves Rajasthan state beyond Kotkasim in Alwar district near village Ujauli and covers a total distance of about 222 km up to Dhasa Bund.

It enters Haryana state at Jhabua, near the city of Rewari in Rewari district, after which it re-enters first Rajasthan state near Kotkasim, and then Haryana again near the village of Jarthal. The dry riverbed near Jarthal is 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) wide. During light monsoon rainfall, the river's flat and sandy bottom absorbs all rainwater. During heavy rains, the river has defined course up to Pataudi railway station and branches off into two smaller streams to Jhajjar, finally reaching the outskirts of Delhi through Najafgarh drain and ending at the Yamuna River.

Catchment area

The catchment area of the Sahibi River encompasses the following cities and towns: Sikar, Jaipur, and Alwar in northeastern Rajasthan state; Bawal, Rewari, Pataudi, and Jhajjar district in southern Haryana state; and Delhi state.

The catchment area of the Sahibi River in Rajasthan is 4,523.67 square kilometres (1,746.60 sq mi) of Jaipur, Alwar and Sikar Districts, between latitudes 27°16' and 28°11' and longitudes 75°42' and 76°57'. Sahibi Basin falls in three Districts of Rajasthan namely: Alwar district (62.11%), Jaipur district (29.30%) and Sikar district (8.59%).

Mean Annual Rainfall in Sahibi Basin is 627.60 mm. Highest maximum temperature ranges from 45.45-45.99 °C with a mean value of 45.8 °C, while Lowest minimum temperature ranges from 1.64-3.14 °C with a mean value of 2.45 °C.

Within Delhi

The Najafgarh Drain or Najafgarh Nallah (nallah in Hindi means drain) is another name for the Sahibi River, which continues its flow through Delhi where it is channelised for flood control purposes. It is a tributary to the Yamuna River, into which it flows. The Najafgarh Drain gets its name from the once famous and huge Najafgarh Lake near the town of Najafgarh in southwest Delhi. The Najafgarh Drain is the capital’s most polluted body of water due to the direct inflow of untreated sewage from surrounding populated areas. Assessing the water quality of wetlands in wildlife habitats, a January 2005 report by the Central Pollution Control Board rated the Najafgarh Drain under category D, along with 13 other highly polluted wetlands.

Regulators at the Keshopur Bus Depot on the Outer Ring Road are wide with thick and high embankments. A vast amount of water is retained in this widened drain by closing the Kakrola regulators under Najafgarh Road to recharge the local groundwater table.

History

Prior to 1960, the rain-fed Sahibi River entered Delhi near Dhansa and spilled its overflow in the Najafgarh Lake (Jheel) basin, creating a seasonal lake. A vast area more than 300 square kilometres (120 sq mi) was submerged in some seasons. In the following decades, the Sahibi River flow reaching Dhansa was channelised by digging a wide drain and connecting it directly to the Yamuna River, completely draining the seasonal Najafgarh Jheel.

The Sahibi River flooded in 1977. In response, the Masani barrage was constructed on Delhi-Jaipur highway near Masani village, Rewari. Several smaller dams have also been constructed throughout the hills of Rajasthan to store rainwater. The construction of dams has restricted the flow of water on the Sahibi River and it is now rare for water overflow from monsoon rains to reach up the Masani Barrage.

Indus Valley Civilisation sites in the area

Parts of Rajasthan and Haryana that Sahibi river flows through are arid and have only seasonal moonsoon rainfall, in the past river might have held perennial flow as evident by the presence of several Indus Valley Civilization sites on the banks of present-day Sahibi River meanders and its tributaries. Several sites have been found in many locations to establish a pattern of settlement of widespread Indus Valley Civilization along the banks of Sahibi and its tributaries. Archaeological excavation have proven that Indus Valley Civilization people lived here before the Harappan and pre-Mahabharata periods.

Among the finds are handmade and wheel-made pottery dated to 3309–2709 BCE and 2879–2384 BCE found on the banks of the Sahibi River at Jodhpura.

Other findings include pottery found on the Sahibi riverbed at Hansaka in the Rewari district by INTACH-Rewari.

A red stone statue of Vamana Dev, now displayed at the Shri Krishna Museum, Kurukshetra was unearthed in 2002 on the Sahibi riverbed near Bawal.

In various other places on Sahibi riverbed, many artifacts have been found, including arrowheads, fishhooks, spearheads, awls, and chisels.

Identification with Vedic rivers

Several modern scholars identify the old Ghaggar-Hakra River (of which Tangri river is a tributary) as the Sarasvati river and the Sahibi River with the Drishadvati river of Vedic period, on the banks of which in the Vedic state of Brahmavarta, Indus-Sarasvati civilisation or Vedic Sanskriti developed. Such scholars include Bhargava The Drishadwati River had formed one border of the Vedic state of Brahmavarta while other was Saraswati river. This is mentioned in the Rigveda, the Manusmriti, and the Brahmin Granths texts also.

Bridges

Several bridges cross the Sahibi River. A bridge on State Highway 14 crosses the river between Bansur and Kotputli. On State Highway 52, a bridge crosses the river between Ajaraka and Dadhiya. The Masani Barrage on NH 48 (formerly NH 8) crosses the river near Dharuhera, Rewari. Railway bridges between Ajaraka and Bawal and near Pataudi also cross the river.