The Gulf of Kutch and Gulf of Khambhat

Somewhere near this coast, engineers want to build a dam over 60 kilometres long. It would turn one of India’s two great Gujarat gulfs into a giant freshwater lake.

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Indian Geography · IndGeo0042

Gujarat’s Two Great Gulfs

Gulf of Kutch

• Separates Kutch from Saurashtra
• Coral reefs, Marine National Park
• Oil, gas, and tidal-power potential

Gulf of Khambhat

• Narmada, Tapi, Mahi, Sabarmati estuaries
• Extreme tides, up to ~12 m
• Site of the proposed Kalpasar dam

~200 km

Length of Gulf of Khambhat

1982

Marine National Park declared

~60 km dam

Proposed Kalpasar Project

A gulf turned into a lake?

The Kalpasar Project would dam the Gulf of Khambhat entirely, blocking the sea and storing river water to create one of the largest freshwater reservoirs ever proposed.

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Must Know

• The Gulf of Kutch and Gulf of Khambhat are India’s two major gulfs on Gujarat’s west coast.
• The Gulf of Kutch separates the Kutch peninsula from the Saurashtra region.
• The Gulf of Khambhat, also called the Gulf of Cambay, runs about 200 kilometres. It widens from 20 kilometres in the north to about 70 kilometres in the south.
• Major rivers, including the Narmada, Tapi, Mahi, and Sabarmati, form estuaries as they empty into the Gulf of Khambhat.
• Both gulfs open into the Arabian Sea.

Good to Know

• The Gulf of Khambhat’s shape and orientation give it extreme tides, up to about 12 metres at its inner end.
• The Gulf of Kutch also sees strong tidal action, though generally less extreme than Khambhat’s.
• Both gulfs hold significant offshore oil and gas reserves, making them important to India’s energy sector.
• Their strong tides also give both gulfs real potential for tidal-power generation. Khambhat holds by far the larger share of India’s identified tidal-energy potential.

Test Yourself

Please wait…

1. The Gulf of Kutch separates the Kutch peninsula from which region?

The Saurashtra region

The Malwa Plateau

The Konkan coast

The Kathiawar-Sindh border belt

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Great to Know

• The Marine National Park sits on the Gulf of Kutch’s southern shore, declared in 1982. It protects coral reefs, mangroves, and a rich mix of marine life.
• Its waters hold around 40 species of hard coral, 10 species of soft coral, and dozens of sponge, bivalve, and gastropod species.
• The proposed Kalpasar Project would build a roughly 60-kilometre dam across the Gulf of Khambhat.
• If built, it would block seawater and store river inflow, creating a massive freshwater reservoir, one of the largest such projects ever proposed.