Indian River Systems

Notes

India's rivers are grouped into the Himalayan and Peninsular systems. The Himalayan rivers are perennial and include the Indus, Ganga and Brahmaputra systems.

Indus system

The Indus rises near Mansarovar in Tibet; about 2,880 km long (about 1,114 km in India). Tributaries: Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, Sutlej.
Indus Waters Treaty (1960): India has the eastern rivers (Ravi, Beas, Sutlej); Pakistan the western rivers (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab).

Ganga system

The Ganga (about 2,525 km): the Bhagirathi (from Gangotri) and Alaknanda meet at Devprayag; it enters the plains at Haridwar and flows to the Bay of Bengal. In Bangladesh it is the Padma, which joins the Brahmaputra (Jamuna) and then the Meghna. Its distributary in India is the Hooghly.
Right-bank tributaries: Yamuna (from Yamunotri; with the Chambal, Betwa and Ken), Son, Damodar (the "sorrow of Bengal").
Left-bank tributaries: Ramganga, Gomti, Ghaghara, Gandak, Kosi, Mahananda.

Brahmaputra system

Rises in Tibet as the Tsangpo, flows east and enters India as the Siang (Dihang) in Arunachal Pradesh; with the Dibang and Lohit it forms the Brahmaputra in Assam; it is the Jamuna in Bangladesh. About 2,900 km; the second-largest river in India by discharge.

Peninsular rivers (mostly seasonal)

East-flowing: Mahanadi (about 851 km), Godavari (about 1,465 km, the longest peninsular river, "Dakshin Ganga", from Trimbak near Nashik), Krishna (from Mahabaleshwar), Kaveri (from Talakaveri in the Brahmagiri hills; Sivasamudram and Hogenakkal falls), Pennar, Subarnarekha, Brahmani, Baitarani. They form deltas.
West-flowing: Narmada (about 1,312 km, from Amarkantak, flows through a rift valley; Dhuandhar falls) and Tapi (about 724 km, from Multai, Satpura), Sabarmati, Mahi, Luni, and the shorter rivers of Kerala (Periyar, the longest in Kerala; Bharathapuzha, Pamba). They form estuaries.

Inland drainage: the Ghaggar and the rivers of the Thar that end in salt lakes.

Key Points

Indus (Mansarovar; Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, Sutlej); Indus Waters Treaty 1960.
Ganga from the Bhagirathi and Alaknanda at Devprayag; Yamuna and Son (right), Gandak and Kosi (left).
Brahmaputra: Tsangpo, Siang, Jamuna.
Godavari: longest peninsular river; Narmada and Tapi: west-flowing, rift valleys.
East-flowing rivers form deltas; west-flowing form estuaries.

MCQs

Q1. The longest river of peninsular India is the:
(a) Krishna
(b) Godavari
(c) Kaveri
(d) Mahanadi Ans:
(b).

Q2. The Bhagirathi and Alaknanda meet at:
(a) Haridwar
(b) Devprayag
(c) Rishikesh
(d) Allahabad Ans:
(b).

Q3. The Narmada flows through a:
(a) Rift valley
(b) Fold valley
(c) Glacial valley
(d) Delta Ans:
(a). It flows west into the Arabian Sea.