The Chambal River (known in ancient times as the Charmavati River), a perennial river, which is first tapped at the Gandhi Sagar dam as part of its cascade development, raises in the Vindhya Range of hills at an elevation of , south of Mhow ( west-southwest of Mhow). It flows north-northeast through Madhya Pradesh, runs for a time through Rajasthan, then forms the boundary between Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh before turning southeast to join the Yamuna River in Uttar Pradesh state. Its total length from source up to the confluence with the Yamuna River near Etawah at elevation ( is . It flows in a north-south direction for about ( in Madhya Pradesh and then enters Rajasthan at Chaurasigarh about south east from Kota and eventually joins the Yamuna River in Uttar Pradesh near Etawah. The river reach of from to from its source is a deep gorge section and further downstream there are plains. The Gandhi Sagar Dam is located in the middle reach of the gorge section of the river and affords good storage facility. For the next (, the river flows through the Kundal Plateau, and the Rana Pratap Sagar Dam is constructed at the lower end of this reach, about ( upstream of Chulia Falls. Here again, the topography permits fairly good storage upstream of the dam.