Son River

Son River (Saun)
Savan
Country	India
States	Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar
Region	Baghelkhand
Tributaries
- left	Ghaghar River, Johilla River
- right	Gopad River, Rihand River, Kanhar River, North Koel River
Cities	Sidhi, Dehri, Patna
Landmark	Indrapuri Barrage
Source	Amarkantak
- elevation	600 m (1,969 ft)
Mouth	Ganges River
- coordinates
Length	784 km (487 mi)

This article is about the river in India. For the river in Vietnam, see Son River (Vietnam).

Son River (also spelt Sone; Hindi: सोन नदी) of central India is the Second largest of the Ganges' southern tributaries after Yamuna River.

Course

Sonemuda,origin of Sone River

Babur crossing the Son River.

The Son originates near Amarkantak in Madhya Pradesh, just east of the headwater of the Narmada River, and flows north-northwest through Madhya Pradesh state before turning sharply eastward where it encounters the southwest-northeast-running Kaimur Range. The Son parallels the Kaimur hills, flowing east-northeast through Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar states to join the Ganges just above Patna. Geologically, the lower valley of the Son is an extension of the Narmada Valley, and the Kaimur Range an extension of the Vindhya Range. Dehri on sone and Sonbhadra are the major cities situated on Son River.

The Son river at 784 kilometres (487 mi) long, is one of the largest rivers of India. Its chief tributaries are the Rihand and the North Koel. The Son has a steep gradient (35–55 cm per km) with quick run-off and ephemeral regimes, becoming a roaring river with the rain-waters in the catchment area but turning quickly into a fordable stream. The Son, being wide and shallow, leaves disconnected pools of water in the remaining part of the year. The channel of the Son is very wide (about 5 km at Dehri on sone) but the floodplain is narrow, only 3 to 5 kilometres (2 to 3 mi) wide. In the past, the Son has been notorious for changing course, as it is traceable from several old beds near its east bank. In modern times this tendency has been checked with the anicut at Dehri, and now more so with the Indrapuri Barrage.

In Bihar, this river forms border line between Bhojpuri and Magahi speaking regions.

Sir John Houlton, the British administrator, describes the Son as follows, "After passing the steep escarpments of the Kaimur range, it flows straight across the plain to the Ganges. For much of this distance it is over two miles – and at one point, opposite Tilothu – three miles wide. In the dry weather there is vast expanse of sand, with a stream not more than a hundred yards wide, and the hot west winds pile up the sand on the east bank, making natural embankments. After heavy rain in the hills even this wide bed cannot carry the waters of the Son and disastrous floods in Shahabad, Gaya, and Patna are not uncommon."

Dams

The first dam on the Son was built in 1873–74 at Dehri.

The Indrapuri Barrage was constructed, 8 kilometres (5 mi) upstream, and commissioned in 1968.

The Bansagar Dam in Madhya Pradesh was commissioned in 2008.

Bridges

The 1440metre rail and road lattice-girder concrete and steel Abdul Bari Bridge (previously but widely still called the Koilwar Bridge and before that the Son Bridge) near Arrah was completed in 1862. It remained the longest bridge in India, until the Nehru Setu bridge at Dehri was opened in 1900.

The Son bridge built in Deolond, Shahdol district of Madhya Pradesh was inaugurated by Motilal Vora and Pandit Ram Kishore Shukla then Chief Minister and Finance Minister of Madhya Pradesh on 13 February 1986.

The Government of Bihar sanctioned in 2008 a bridge across the Son River connecting Arwal and Sahar in Bhojpur district.

A four-lane road bridge, carrying NH 30, parallel to the existing rail and road Koilwar Bridge, has been planned.

Gallery

• 

  Boatmen on the Son River, Umaria district, MP

See also

• List of rivers of India