After enjoying the extreme adventure like rock climbing, rappelling, river crossing, bridge slithering , you have other options to enjoy the pureness of The Great Gurgling Kosi River.
The Kosi
Uttarakhand’s pristine beauty has been enhanced more by the beautiful rivers it is blessed with, which are also the major attraction points for tourist. One such river is Kosi, which is also referred as life line of Almora and is one of the famous rivers of kumaon. It originates from village Budha Peenath of Kausani in Almora district. This beautiful river stretches up to 250 kms and flows through hilly region up to Ramnagar.
During its journey, it meets numerous small tributaries and streams which ultimately flow in to it like River Saai, River Chhoti Kosi, River Sayal, River Kushgarh and River Ramganga-Gadhera. After travelling Uttarakhand, it merges with river Ramganga near village Chamraul of district Rampur in Uttar Pradesh.Kosi River is famous for its notoriously unpredictable nature and is very prone to floods during monsoon. But with bad comes lot of good things. Kosi’s gifts to Uttarakhand are ravishingly beautiful V-shaped valleys, rich fertile river banks, lovely river terraces and numerous small islands surrounded by Khair, sheesham and coniferous forests.
One can’t imagine Almora without Kosi River. The surrealistic look of Kosi river bank in Almora is extremely mesmerizing. Kosi River supplies drinking water to Almora district and is also used majorly for irrigation purposes.
After crossing Almora, it moves to plains of Ramnagar. Garjiya Devi Temple is one of the famous shrines of Uttarakhand which is situated on a huge hill in the middle of the Kosi River. The shingle river bank formed by the foaming water of Kosi River adds to the beauty and serenity of this sacred place.
Kosi River has been facing major threats due to pollution and environmental degradation from last few years. In 2003 the flow of water in the Kosi had reduced from 985 litres per second to 85 litres. The reasons behind it are global warming, cutting of forests and drying up of water bodies due to excessive usage. Several regulatory steps have been taken by some sincere groups and social activists regarding this problem. One of the appreciated steps was Save the Rivers campaign, which was started in Jan 2008 by some enlightened souls who launched 15-days state-wide campaign to encourage and aware people against the anti-river policies of the government.