Luni River originates from the Naga Hills of the Aravalli Range in Rajasthan’s Ajmer district from a height of 772 metres.
It irrigates a large part of the south-western part of Rajasthan and then reaches Gujarat where it disappears in the desert of Kutch. Its total length is 320 km.
The water of Luni river from Ajmer to Balotra remains quite sweet but due to the predominance of salt in it, the water becomes saline.
The river, called as Sagarmati here, then turns south-west towards Gujarat via hills and plains in the region.
This flows through the Rajasthan districts namely Nagaur, Pali, Jodhpur, Barmer and Jalore covering a distance of around 495 kms.
Luni does have freshwater during the first hundred kilometres but as it reaches Balotra in Barmer, the water starts to turn saline from the rich salt content of the surface on which it flows on.
As it flows through Rajasthan, it also encounters low rainfall and high temperatures which causes erratic water supply.
Luni then flows into the Thar Desert and meets its end in Barine, located at the north-eastern part of the marsh called the Rann of Kutch in Gujarat, without flowing into any larger water body.