The river Palar emerges from the Nandi Hills at a height of 800m above the sea level in the Karnataka State.
Flowing area
This river Palar starts from the Karnataka, then enters the Kuppam Taluk of Chitoor District in Andhra Pradesh and flows there for a small distance. Then this river enters the Vellore District in Tamil Nadu flows through the Vaniambadi Town. From there it flows Maduranthagam and Mahabalipuram of Kancheepuram District before it mixes with the sea in the Bay of Bengal.
This river flows at a distance of 93Km in Karnataka, 33Km in the Kuppam Taluk of Andhra Pradesh and 222Km in Tamil Nadu. From Tamil Nadu, it enters the Bay of Bengal in a place called Vayalur.
River Tributaries
The Cheyyar and the Ponnai in Tamil Nadu are the major tributaries of this river Palar.
Dams across the river
There are many dams across this river. In Karnataka there are two consecutive within 7Km to store the water. They are Ramasagara reservoir and the Bethamangala reservoir. This Bethamangala Reservoir serves as the drinking water source for the Kolar Gold fields, while the Ramasagara Reservoir serves as the fishing site. This Ramasagara Reservoir has many temples in its nearby places.To explore other famous river thamirabharani.
The Government of Andhra Pradesh is constructing the irrigation Reservoir across the river in Ganeshpuram in Kuppam District. To this act, then Chief Minister of TamilNadu opposed this proposal stating the 1892 agreement. As per this agreement, the Palar river is an inter-state river under the Schedule annexure. So the upstream states cannot construct any dam across the inter-state river without consulting the downstream state.
Temples across this river
There are many famous temples on the banks of Palar river. In the Ramasagara Village near the Ramasagara reservoir, the Channakesava Swamy Temple, Veerabadra swamy temple and the Someshwara swamy Temple are present. Then the Vijayendra Swamy temple, lies in the Bethamangala Town. The Vekateshwara Perumal Bangaru Tirupati Temple is situated on the hills of the Guttahalli. On the banks of the Palar river, the Venogopalaswami Temple lies as a holy place. These two Dams of Karnataka serves as the holy place for the devotees.
Palar River Basin
The river basin serves as the one of the biggest river basins in Tamil Nadu. This Palar river supplies the drinking water for nearly 30 towns and 50 villages. This river irrigates a large number of cultivated lands in many villages. By flowing through five Districts of Tamil Nadu, these river feed water to those Districts like the Kancheepuram, Thiruvallur, Vellore, Tiruvannamalai and Chennai.
This river irrigates an area of about 4,20,000acres of land in Tamil Nadu. The water of this river, is also supplied to the Atomic Power station in Kalpakkam. But this river is dry from the year 2005. Even the heavy rains during the months of October to November is not able to wholly fulfill the water needs for these five Tamil Nadu states.
In 2015, after 10 years, the Palar water went flowing in the Pallikonda following the heavy rain after the water flow at the Amriti and the Jalagamparai waterfalls.
Water source to Chennai
The Palar river diverts into the Kosasthalaiyar river basin and the Chembarambakkam Lake in the Adyar river basin. These two reservoirs serves as the water supply source to the Chennai city.
En Peyar Palar
A documentary on this Palar river was released in the year 2008. This documentary “En Peyar Palar” spoke about the illegal activities that affect the life of the river. To Know more other famous river amaravati
Things to be done to save the river water
- First do not pollute the river water with the plastics and the chemicals.
- Next do not waste the river water unnecessarily.
- Finally do not steal the sand from the river bed, which is officially a crime.
Flowing States: Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
Flow area: 348 Km (source to sea).
Origin Place: Nandi Hills, Karnataka.