Subarnarekha River Floods: Chhotanagpur Plateau Drainage, Inter-State Basin Management and Flood Resilience Category GS Date Data rule Geography, Environment and Disaster Management GS Paper I, GS Paper III 4 September 2026 30+ numerical facts
WHY IN NEWS
- Flooding of the Subarnarekha affected more than 45,000 people across 22 gram panchayats in three blocks of Balasore, bringing the east-flowing inter-State river into current affairs.
- The river flows through Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha before entering the Bay of Bengal.
- For UPSC, the topic combines drainage geography, Chhotanagpur Plateau, monsoon hydrology, reservoirs, floodplain management and inter-State coordination.
- Flood management requires basin-scale rainfall, reservoir and downstream inundation information rather than district-by-district response alone.
TOP DATA & FACTS FOR UPSC
- More than 45,000 people were reported affected in the recent Balasore floods.
- 22 gram panchayats were affected.
- The affected area covered three blocks.
- Subarnarekha is an east-flowing river.
- It flows through Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha.
- The name Subarnarekha means 'streak of gold'.
- It originates near Nagri village in Ranchi district, Jharkhand.
- Its source elevation is about 600 metres.
- It flows across the Chhotanagpur Plateau.
- The river finally drains into the Bay of Bengal.
- Its length is about 395 km in the cited current-affairs source.
- Kanchi is an important tributary.
- Kharkai is an important tributary.
- Karkari is an important tributary.
- The basin lies south of the Damodar basin.
- The Brahmani and Baitarani basins lie to its south.
- The basin spans three States.
- The basin is strongly influenced by the Southwest Monsoon.
- Monsoon influence extends broadly from June to October.
- Getalsud Reservoir lies in the basin system.
- Chandil Dam is associated with the Subarnarekha basin.
- Galudih Barrage is an important hydraulic structure.