Kali River (Uttarakhand)

For other rivers named Kali, see Kali River (disambiguation).

Kali River
Origin	Himalayas-Kalapaani
Mouth	Tributary of Ganges
Length	350 Kilometers
Source elevation	4150 meters
Basin area	Eastern Kumaon - Western Nepal

The Kali river or River Sharda originates from the Greater Himalayas at Kalapaani at an altitude of 3600 m, in the Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand, India. The river is named after the Goddess Kālī whose temple is situated in Kalapaani near the Lipu-Lekh pass at the border between India and Tibet. On its upper course, this river forms India's continuous eastern boundary with Nepal. After reaching the plains of Uttarakhand and onto Uttar Pradesh, the river is known as Sharda. The Kali River is the part of the Ganges River System.

The Kali River joins with the Gori Ganga at Jauljibi, a place famous for its annual trade fair. It the joins with the River Karnali and adopts a new name River Sarayu in Bahraich district till it meets with River Ganges. The area around Pancheshwar is called 'Kali Kumaon'. Kali descends in plains and called by the name of Sharda.

Darma River joins Kali River at Tawaghat, Uttarkhand.

The Pancheswar Dam, a joint venture with Nepal for irrigation and hydro-electric power generation will soon be constructed on the Sarayu or Kali River. The Tanakpur Hydroelectric Project (120MW) was commissioned in April 1993 by the NHPC, with a barrage on the Sharda River near the town of Tanakpur in the district of Champawat.

The river attracted media attention in 2007, over the Kali river goonch attacks possibly by man-eating catfish.