Rushikulya

Rushikulya
Mouth	Bay of Bengal
Basin countries	India
Length	165 km

Rushikalya River

Rushikulya river is one of the major rivers of Orissa, India. It meets the Bay of Bengal at Puruna Bandha, Chhatrapur block of Ganjam district.It originates from the Rushyamala hills of the Eastern Ghats in Phulbani in Kandhamal district. It is 165 km long with 8900 km² of catchment area. Its tributaries are the Baghua, the Dhanei Badanadi etc. It has no delta as such at its mouth.In 1993, biologists from the Orissa Forest Department and the Wildlife Institute of India learned that large scale nesting of Olive Ridley turtles was taking place near the mouth of the Rushikulya river. This area is the location of one of the largest mass nesting (arribada) sites of olive ridley sea turtles in India. The villages near the mouth are Pali Bandha, Puruna Bandha, Gokhara Kuda and Kantia Pada, where one can find the nesting sites of the olive ridley turtles. These villages basically are fishermen's villages.

External links

• Government of Orissa