Sindphana River

Sindphana is a minor tributary of Godavari river^[1] that originates around the Chincholi hill in Patoda Taluka, Beed District, Maharashtra. Crossing west to east its drainage basin covers nearly 80% of Beed District, making it the most important river within the district. The Majalgaon Dam, constructed across the river, irrigates 93885 hectares of land in Beed, Parbhani & Nanded districts.

Origin

The Sindphana rises in the Chinchol hill at the north-west apex of the Balagat plateau in the Patoda Taluka of [Beed District].

Course

From the site of origin the river flows in a northeasterly course past Amalner, a small village in the Patoda taluka. About a kilometre below Chavarwadi it makes a right-angular turn to follow a north-westerly direction flowing to Sindphana village, where the Sindphana Dam sits across the river.Here,it resumes its north-easterly course once again. After the confluence of another tributary, the Kinha, the Sindphana has a fairly long easterly course flowing alongside the villages Yelamb, Pimpari and Hirapur beyond which it is joined by one of its tributaries - Bindusara River.Its flow is interrupted by the Majalgaon Dam at Majalgaon, whereafter it flows north-eastwards and northwards to join the Godavari at Manjarath village, Pathri taluka, Parbhani District at an elevation of 407m.^[2]

Tributaries

Left Bank

The only important tributaries^[3] of the Sindphana on its left bank are the Ad, the Belpar and the Kinha in the western part. In the eastern part the tributaries on the left flank flowing from the north are very small sized streams.

• The Ad rising on the northern slopes of the Chincholi hills flows by Kotan in a north-easterly direction to fall into the backwaters of the reservoir created by the Sindphana Dam.
• The Belpar also rises on the northern slopes of the Chincholi hills to the west of the Ad. After flowing past Hatola, it makes a short sojourn outside into Ahmednagar district and after re-entering the district flows by Pimpalner to join the Sindphana at Gomalwada.The Belapara Prject Lake is situated on this river.
• The Kinha river (alternately Sina) rising in the hills to the west of Pangri village, flows in an easterly and north-easterly course sometimes within and sometimes outside the district and joins the Sindphana just above Nimbgaon. The Kinha has several small tributaries such as the Manikarni flowing by Manur, and the Nandidara flowing by Ukirda.

Right Bank

There are innumerable right flank tributaries of Sindphana flowing from the Balaghat slopes, the more important of which, in order from west to east are the Uthola flowing by Raimoha, the Utawali flowing by Khokarmoha and Khalapuri, the Dombri flowing by Dombri, Ukhanda and Rajuri and joining the Sindphana opposite to Shiras marga, the Bindusara, the Takur rising on the eastern slopes of Pimpalgaon Ghat, the Pimpalner river and the Kundalika. Of these the Bendsura and the Kundalika are of considerable size and length and require some detailed consideration.

• Bindusara: The Bindusara rises near Waghera, 2 kilometres north-west of Limba Ganesh and has a fairly long course on the northern slopes of the Balaghat plateau first flowing northwards and after Kadamwadi eastwards to Pali village, receiving a number of tributaries on both banks comprising a fairly large catchment area of 183 square kilometers. This has been taken advantage of for the Bindusara project. About 8 kilometres below Pali the river flows through Beed town with a north-north-east course to join the Sindphana. The headward erosion of this comparatively large sized stream must have been so considerable that the watershed to the south has migrated farther south here than at other places.
• The Kundalika, called very often by the shortened form Kundka, rises to the north-east of Neknur and flows first in a north-easterly direction and then in an easterly direction up to Nagjheri after which it has a general northerly course to join the Sindphana a few kilometres upstream of Manjlegaon.

Dams

• Majalgaon Dam
• Sindphana Dam

References

Godavari basin
Rivers	Major tributaries Godavari Pranhita Indravati Sabari Manjira Manair Wardha Wainganga Penganga Minor tributaries Pravara Kinnerasani Purna Sileru Sindphana Taliperu Sub-tributaries Adan Banganga Bindusara Darna Kadva Kanhan Kolar Nasardi Pench Purna Shivana
Dams, barrages	Jayakwadi Dam Majalgaon Dam Sriram Sagar Project Nizam Sagar Upper Wardha Dam Singur Reservoir Neher water system Dowleswaram Barrage Balimela Reservoir Devadula lift irrigation scheme Upper Dudhana Dam Godavari River Basin Irrigation Projects
Geographical features / regions	Marathwada Vidarbha Coastal Andhra Konaseema Deccan Plateau Western Ghats Eastern Ghats
Riparian districts	Maharashtra Nashik Ahmednagar Aurangabad Parbhani Nanded Gadchiroli Beed Amravati Bhandara Gondia Chandrapur Wardha Nagpur Yavatmal Washim Buldhana Hingoli Madhya Pradesh Balaghat Seoni Betul Chhindwara Odisha Kalahandi Koraput Malkangiri Chhattisgarh Bastar Bijapur Karnataka Bidar Telangana Medak Nizamabad Adilabad Karimnagar Warangal Khammam Andhra Pradesh West Godavari East Godavari Vishakapatnam
Cities	Nashik Nagpur Nanded Rajahmundry Warangal Koraput Bastar Bidar
Languages / people	Indo-Aryan languages Marathi Bhili Khandeshi Andh Banjari Odia Bhunjia Hindi Dravidian languages Kolami Goni Telugu Kannadiga Duruwa Multani Urdu
Coalfields	Godavari Valley Coalfield Wardha Valley Coalfield Kamptee Coalfield Pench Kanhan Coalfield
Oil / gas fields	Krishna Godavari Basin Ravva oil field
Industries	Khaparkheda Thermal Power Station Koradi Thermal Power Station Chandrapur Super Thermal Power Station Wardha Warora Power Plant Lanco Vidarbha Power Plant Nashik Thermal Power Station Dhariwal Power Station RattanIndia Nashik Thermal Power Station Kothagudem Thermal Power Station Kakatiya Thermal Power Station Parli Thermal Power Station NTPC Ramagundam NTPC Mauda Super Thermal Power Station Ramagundam B Thermal Power Station Tiroda Thermal Power Station Butibori Power Project Heavy Water Plant at Manuguru Waluj MIDC Shendra MIDC Shendra – Bidkin Industrial Park Ballarpur Industries HAL Sunabeda NALCO Damanjodi
Transport	NH 5 National Highway 6 (India)(old numbering) NH 7 Godavari Bridge Old Godavari Bridge Godavari Arch Bridge Hyderabad-Godavari Valley Railways Visakhapatnam–Vijayawada section Bilaspur–Nagpur section Nagpur–Hyderabad line
Pollution concerns, River basin's sustainable productivity & ecology	Algal bloom in reservoirs High alkalinity of river water in the river basin upstream of Pochampadu dam Frequent floods in tail end area of the river basin Alkali salts / high pH water run off from ash / red mud dumps of coal fired power stations / bauxite ore enrichment Excessive silting of reservoirs due to deforestation and mining activities
Related topics	Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal
Other basins	Mahanadi–Brahmani–Baitarani Damodar Kosi Narmada Son Krishna Penna