List of major rivers

of India

Map of the major rivers, lakes, and reservoirs in India

Map showing rivers and flood prone areas in India

Map of India based on survey of rivers of India.

The rivers of India play an important role

in the lives of the people. They provide
potable water, cheap transportation,
electricity, and the livelihood for a large
number of people all over the country. This
easily explains why nearly all the major
cities of India are located by the banks of
rivers. The rivers also have an important
role in Hindu Religion and are considered
holy by all Hindus in the country.[1]

Seven major rivers along with their

numerous tributaries make up the river
system of India. The largest basin system
of the rivers pour their waters into the Bay
of Bengal; however, some of the rivers
whose courses take them through the
western part of the country and towards
the east of the state of Himachal Pradesh
empty into the Arabian Sea. Parts of
Ladakh, northern parts of the Aravalli
range and the arid parts of the Thar Desert
have inland drainage.

All major rivers of India originate from one

of the following main watersheds:

1. Aravalli range
2. Himalaya and Karakoram ranges
3. Sahyadri or Western Ghats in western
India
4. Vindhya and Satpura ranges a

Himalayan glaciers in the Indian

subcontinent are broadly divided into the
three river basins, namely the Indus, Ganga
and Brahmaputra. The Indus basin has the
largest number of glaciers (3500),
whereas the Ganga and Brahmaputra
basins contain about 1000 and 660
glaciers, respectively.[2] Ganga is the
largest river system in India.However
these rivers are just three among many.
Other examples are Narmada, Tapi, and
Godavari.

The Indo-Gangetic plains

Known as Ganga-Satluj Ka Maidaan (गँगा
सतलुज का मैदान), this area is drained by 16
major rivers. The major Himalayan Rivers
are the Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra.
These rivers are long, and are joined by
many large and important tributaries.
Himalayan rivers have long courses from
their source to sea (in India Arabian sea
and Bay of Bengal).

Laxman Jhoola in Rishikesh

Aravalli range river system

Following rivers flow from the Aravalli
range, both northwards to Yamuna as well
as southwards to Arabian Sea.

North-to-south flowing rivers, originate

from the western slopes of Aravalli
range in Rajasthan, pass through the
southeastern portion of the Thar Desert,
and end into Gujarat.
Luni River, originates in the Pushkar
valley near Ajmer, ends in the
marshy lands of Rann of Kutch.
Sakhi river, ends in the marshy
lands of Rann of Kutch.
Sabarmati River, originates on the
western slopes of Aravalli range of
the Udaipur District, end into the
Gulf of Cambay of Arabian Sea.
West to north-west flowing rivers,
originate from the western slopes of
Aravalli range in Rajasthan, flow through
semi-arid historical Shekhawati region,
drain into southern Haryana. Several
Ochre Coloured Pottery culture sites,
also identified as late Harappan phase
of Indus Valley Civilisation culture,[3] has
been found along the banks of these
rivers.
Sahibi River, originates near
Manoharpur in Sikar district flows
through Haryana, along with its
following tributaries:[4][5][6][7]
Dohan river, tributary of Sahibi
river, originates near Neem Ka
Thana in Alwar district).
Sota River, tributary of Sahibi
river, merges with Sahibi river
at Behror in Alwar district.
Krishnavati river, former
tributary of Sahibi river,
originates near Dariba copper
mines in Rajsamand district of
Rajasthan, flows through Patan
in Dausa district and Mothooka
in Alwar district, then
disappears in Mahendragarh
district in Haryana much before
reaching Sahibi river.
West to north-east flowing rivers,
originating from the eastern slopes of
Aravalli range in Rajasthan, flow
northwards to Yamuna.
Chambal River, a southern-side
tributary of Yamuna river.
Banas River, a northern-side
tributary of Chambal river.
Berach River, a southern-
side tributary of Banas
River, originates in the hills
of Udaipur District.
Ahar River, a right-side
(or eastern side)
tributary of the Berach
river, originates in the
 hills of Udaipur
District, flows through
Udaipur city forming
the famous Lake
Pichola.
Wagli Wagon River, a
right-side tributary of
the Berach River.
Gambhiri River, a
right-side tributary of
the Berach river.
Orai River, a right-side
tributary of the Berach
River.

Ganges river system

The major rivers in this system are (in
order of merging, from west to east)

Ganga - Starting from Vidyasagar

Gangotri Glacier, Uttarakhand
Chambal -Flows through Madhya
Pradesh, Rajasthan and merges into
Yamuna in Uttar Pradesh
Betwa - Not Himalayan river, covers
Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh
before merging Yamuna
Yamuna - Yamuna runs its most of the
course parallel to Ganga before
contributing its water to Ganga at
prayagraj
Gomti - Starts near the junction of three
borders viz. Nepal, Uttarakhand and UP
Ghaghra - Starts in Nepal near
Uttarakhand
Son - Not Himalayan river, covers MP,
UP, Jharkhand and Bihar. Largest of
Ganga's southern tributaries
Gandak - Starts from Nepal
Kosi - Starts from Bihar, near Indo-Nepal
border
Brahmaputra - Merges with Ganga to
form the grand river (but short in length)
- Padma in Bangladesh. By now, flow
velocity of both rivers slow down to
 considerable extent as they are in plains
now.

Before entering Bangladesh, Ganga leaves

a distributary Hoogly, which provides
water for irrigation in West Bengal

Brahmaputra river system

Brahmaputra River basin across Northeast India

Yarlung Tsangpo River - originates and

forms the upper stream of Brahmaputra
in Tibet
Siang - main river after it enters India in
the state of Arunachal Pradesh
Dibang - major tributary flowing through
Arunachal Pradesh before merging into
the Brahmaputra River in Assam.
Lohit - one of the three major tributaries
of Brahmaputra flowing through
Arunachal Pradesh from the
easternmost India.
Brahmaputra - runs across the state of
Assam from East to West, entering
Bangladesh afterwards.
Teesta - one of the largest tributaries of
Brahmaputra; originating in the borders
 of Sikkim and Tibet, flowing South it
joins Brahmaputra in Bangladesh.
Jamuna River (Bangladesh) - the
Brahmaputra is known as Jamuna in
Bangladesh.
Padma River - the Jamuna river merges
with Padma in Bangladesh before finally
falling into the Bay of Bengal.

Indus river system

The Indus River originates in the northern
slopes of the Kailash range near Lake
Manasarovar in Tibet. Although most of
the river's course runs through
neighbouring Pakistan, as per as
regulation of Indus water treaty of 1960,
India can use only 20 percent of the water
in this river. A portion of it does run
through Indian territory, as do parts of the
courses of its five major tributaries, listed
below. These tributaries are the source of
the name of the Punjab of South Asia; the
name is derived from the panch ("five")
and aab ("water"), hence the combination
of the words (Punjab) means "land with the
water of five rivers". The Indus is 3,200
kilometres (2,000 mi) long.

The major rivers in Indus river system are

(in order of their length):

Indus - 3,202 kilometres (1,990 mi)

 Sutlej - 1,529 kilometres (950 mi)
Chenab - 960 kilometres (600 mi)
Jhelum - 813 kilometres (505 mi)
Ravi - 720 kilometres (450 mi)
Beas - 460 kilometres (290 mi)
Shyok
Zanskar

Annual flows and other data

India experiences an average precipitation
of 1,170 millimetres (46 in) per year, or
about 4,000 cubic kilometres (960 cu mi)
of rains annually.[8] Some 80 percent of its
area experiences rains of 750 millimetres
(30 in) or more a year. However, this rain is
not uniform in time or geography. Most of
the rains occur during its monsoon
seasons (June to September), with the
northeast and north receiving far more
rains than India's west and south. Other
than rains, the melting of snow year round
over the Himalayas feeds the northern
rivers to varying degrees. The southern
rivers, however experience more flow
variability over the year. For the Himalayan
basin, this leads to flooding in some
months and water scarcity in others.
Despite extensive river system, safe clean
drinking water as well as irrigation water
supplies for sustainable agriculture are in
shortage across India, in part because it
has, as yet, harnessed a small fraction of
its available and recoverable surface water
resource.[9] India harnessed 761 cubic
kilometres (183 cu mi) (20 percent) of its
water resources in 2010, part of which
came from unsustainable use of
groundwater. Of the water it withdrew from
its rivers and groundwater wells, India
dedicated about 688 cubic kilometres
(165 cu mi) to irrigation, 56 cubic
kilometres (13 cu mi) to municipal and
drinking water applications and 17 cubic
kilometres (4.1 cu mi) to industry.[8]

According to 2011 report of the Food and

Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations, India's basin wise distribution of
catchment area and utilizable surface
water resources is presented in the
following table:[8]
 Catchment Additional
area Average available
Basin Draining
River basin unit Region (% of river runoff surface
number into
irrigated (km3) water
India) (km3)

1.1 Ganges (GBM) North 26.5 525.02 250

 Bangladesh

1.2 Brahmaputra (GBM) Northeast 6 537.24 24

 Bangladesh

1.3 Meghna/Barak (GBM) East 1.5 48.36

 Bangladesh

 Myanmar,
2 Other Northeast rivers Northeast 1.1 31

 Bangladesh

East- Bay of
3 Subernarekha 0.9 12.37
southeast Bengal

East- Bay of
4 Brahmani-Baitarani 1.6 28.48 6.8
southeast Bengal

Central- Bay of
5 Mahanadi 4.4 66.88 18.3
east Bengal

Bay of
6 Godavari Central 9.7 110.54 50
Bengal

Bay of
7 Krishna Central 8 78.12 76.3
Bengal

Bay of
9 Pennar Southeast 1.7 6.32 58
Bengal

Bay of
10 Kaveri South 2.5 21.36 6.9
Bengal

East flowing rivers

Central- Bay of
11 between Mahanadi and 2.7 22.52 19
east Bengal
Pennar

12 East flowing rivers Southeast Bay of 3.1 16.46 13.1

 between Kanyakumari Bengal
and Pennar

West flowing rivers

13 between Tadri and Southwest Arabian Sea 1.7 113.53 16.7
Kanyakumari

West flowing rivers

14 Southwest Arabian Sea 1.7 87.41 24.3
between Tapi and Tadri

Central-
15 Tapi Arabian Sea 2 14.88 11.9
west

Central-
16 Narmada Arabian Sea 3.1 45.64 14.5
west

17 Mahi Northwest Arabian Sea 1.1 11.02 34.5

18 Sabarmati Northwest Arabian Sea 0.7 3.81 3.1

West flowing rivers

19 between Kutch and Northwest Arabian Sea 10 15.1 1.9
Saurashtra

20 Rajasthan inland basin Northwest  India 0 Negligible 15

21 Indus tributaries Northwest 10 73.31 46

 Pakistan

Total
100 1869.37
(per International Treaty)

The peninsular river system

The main water divide in peninsular rivers
is formed by the Western Ghats, which run
from north to south close to the western
coast. Most of the major rivers of the
peninsula such as the Mahanadi, the
Godavari, the Krishna and the Kaveri flow
eastwards and drain into the Bay of
Bengal. These rivers make delta at their
mouths. The Narmada, Periyar and Tapti
are the only long rivers, which flow west
and make estuaries.

This chart shows the tributaries and distributaries of

This chart shows the tributaries and distributaries of
major rivers of India. The merging of cells to the right
side each time indicates getting supply from a tributary
and vice versa. The bottom-most row shows other
rivers with no major helping rivers (Saryu is an
exception). Flow of the rivers is assumed to be from
left to right.

See also
Indian Rivers Inter-link
Amazon river basin
Nile river basin
Ganga
Indus
Nethravati

References
1. Sunil Vaidyanathan, Rivers of India
veronica, ISBN 8368135142 Parameter
error in {{ISBN}}: Invalid ISBN., 2012

2. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from

the original (PDF) on 2015-05-14.
Retrieved 2015-09-03. page no 361
3. Gupta, S.P. (ed.) (1995), The lost
Sarasvati and the Indus Civilization,
Jodhpur: Kusumanjali Prakashan
4. Cultural Contours of India: Dr. Satya
Prakash Felicitation Volume, Vijai
Shankar Śrivastava, 1981 .
ISBN 0391023586
5. Sahibi river
 6. Books: Page 41, 42, 43, 44, 47 (b)
Sahibi Nadi (River), River Pollution, By
A.k.jain
7. Minerals and Metals in Ancient India:
Archaeological evidence , Arun Kumar
Biswas, Sulekha Biswas, University of
Michigan. 1996. ISBN 812460049X.
8. FAO, India - Rivers Catchment ,
Aquastat, United Nations (2011)
9. K.L. Rao, India's Water Wealth,
ISBN 978-8125007043, 1979

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