A river off the Chota Nagpur Plateau and the fall that drops ninety-eight metres: the Subarnarekha

Background

Jharkhand's rivers begin in the upland that covers most of the State, and the Subarnarekha is one of them. Its source, like that of the Koel, the Damodar, the Brahmani and the Kharkai, lies in the Chota Nagpur Plateau, and the upper watersheds of all these rivers are inside Jharkhand. That upland position explains the drops along their courses, because the plateau edge turns a quiet stream into a fall within a short distance. On the Subarnarekha stands Hundru Falls, where the water plunges 98 metres, which makes it one of Jharkhand's tallest waterfalls. Jonha Falls and Dassam Falls lie roughly 40 kilometres from Ranchi and can be reached by road as well as by train, so a visitor can take in more than one cascade in a day. Much of the State around these rivers is still under forest, and that cover supports populations of tigers and Asian elephants. Soils differ sharply across the basin country: red soil is found mostly in the Damodar valley and the Rajmahal area, while micacious soil marks places such as Koderma and Jhumri Telaiya. For aspirants the Subarnarekha is best fixed in memory as a plateau river of Jharkhand whose upper catchment lies within the State and whose best known fall is at Hundru.