Cauvery calling to help farmers plant 2.5 cr. trees

• Isha’s Cauvery Calling Movement has planned to plant 2.5 crore tree saplings in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
• Trees, including red sanders, sandalwood, teak and mahogony, are to be sold to farmers at subsidised rates.
• The trees after maturing will help generate additional income for farmers and will not involve much work.

About Cauvery river

• The Cauvery River (Kaveri) is known as the ""Dakshi Bharat ki Ganga,"" or ""Southern Ganga.""
• The Cauvery River rises at Talakaveri on the Brahmagiri range near Cherangala village in the Kodagu (Coorg) region of Karnataka, at a height of 1,341 metres.
• The river is 800 kilometres long from its source to its mouth.
• It runs for 705 kilometres across the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, descending the Eastern Ghats in a succession of massive falls.
• The river splits up into a huge number of distributaries before draining into the Bay of Bengal south of Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu, producing a broad delta known as the ""garden of southern India.""
• It is bordered on the west by the Western Ghats, on the east and south by the Eastern Ghats, and on the north by the mountains that separate it from the Krishna and Pennar basins.
• The Nilgiris, which stretch eastwards to the Eastern ghats and split the basin into two natural and political divisions, the Karnataka plateau in the north and the Tamil Nadu plateau in the south, are an offshore extension of the Western ghats.
• The basin is separated into three segments physiographically: the Westen Ghats, the Mysore Plateau, and the Delta.
• The south-west monsoon brings rain to the upper catchment region in the summer, and the retreating north-east monsoon brings rain to the lower catchment area in the winter.
• As a result, it is practically a perennial river with minimal flow changes, making it ideal for agriculture and hydroelectric power generation.
• The picturesque Sivasamudram Falls, which plunge a total of 100 metres and reach a breadth of 300 metres during the wet season, are located near Sivasamudram.
• Mysore, Bengaluru, and the Kolar Gold Fields all receive hydroelectric power from the falls.
• As a result, the Cauvery is one of the best-managed rivers, with 90 to 95 percent of its irrigation and power generation capacity already tapped.

Tributaries of Cauvery River

• Harangi, Hemavati, Shimsha, and Arkavati are all on the left bank.
• From the right, the Lakshmantirtha, Kabbani, Suvarnavati, Bhavani, Noyil, and Amaravati unite.
• Through the Sivasamudram waterfalls, the river flows from the South Karnataka Plateau to the Tamil Nadu Plains (101 m high).
• The river splits in two at Shivanasamudram and falls in a sequence of falls and rapids to a height of 91 metres.
• The power facility at Shivanasamudram uses the falls at this location to generate electricity.
• After the fall, the two branches of the river unite and run through a huge gorge known as 'Mekedatu' (Goats leap), before continuing on a 64-kilometer journey to create the state border between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
• It enters the Mettur Reservoir in a southerly direction at Hogennekkal Falls.
• About 45 kilometres below Mettur Reservoir, a tributary known as Bhavani joins Cauvery on the right bank. It then travels across Tamil Nadu's plains.
• On the right bank, two further tributaries, Noyil and Amaravathi, join the river, which expands with a sandy bed and runs as 'Akhanda Cauvery.'
• The river separates into two branches shortly after reaching Tiruchirapalli district, with the northern branch known as 'The Coleron' and the southern branch known as Cauvery, and the Cauvery Delta begins from here.
• After around 16 kilometres, the two branches rejoin to form 'Srirangam Island.'
• The ""Grand Anicut"" on the Cauvery branch is claimed to have been built by a Chola King in the first century A.D.
• The Cauvery branch splits into two, Cauvery and Vennar, below the Grand Anicut.
• These branches split and subdivide into smaller branches, forming a network that stretches over the delta.