Indian River System

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Secureias_Admin December 14, 2018

Indian River System

HIMALAYAN RIVERS Indian River System

As the name suggests, these rivers originate from Himalayan

Mountains.
The sources of water are rainfall and melted snow .
As they come from high altitudes they flow with high speed and have larger and deep
courses.
INDUS, GANGES, and BRAHMAPUTRA along with their respective tributaries are the
main Himalayan Rivers.

1. THE INDUS RIVER SYSTEM :

SOURCE: The Indus River rises in Tibet near Manas Sarovar Lake. Flowing westwards, it
enters India in Ladakh district of Jammu and Kashmir.

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COURSE: It flows through the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and
Punjab in India then enters Pakistan and flowing further south reaches the Arabian Sea,
east of Karachi.

TRIBUTARIES: Zaskar, Nubra, Shyok, and Hunza are the tributaries in India. Ravi, Chenab,
Sutlej, Jhelum, and Beas are the tributaries in Pakistan.

CHARACTERISTICS: The slope is very gentle and with 2900 km length, Indus River is one of
the longest rivers in the world.

2. THE GANGES RIVER SYSTEM :

SOURCE: The Ganges River originates in Gangotri glacier as Bhagirathi and joined by
Alaknanda at Devprayag, It turns into Ganga.

COURSE: The Ganga River enters plains in Haridwar and from there it flows eastwards
enlarged by the tributaries joining from left and right. The river divides in West Bengal and
the distributary Hooghly flows southward to reach the Bay of Bengal. The main river enters
into Bangladesh and joins with Brahmaputra river.It covers the states of Uttarakhand, Uttar
Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal.

TRIBUTARIES: Yamuna River joins Ganga at Allahabad as a right bank tributary. Ghagra,
Gandak and Kosi Rivers arising from Nepal Himalayas join as left bank tributaries.
Chambal, Betwa and Son rivers from central Highlands join as right bank tributaries. It
covers the states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar

CHARACTERISTICS: The length is 2500 km and the slope is almost steep in the Himalayas
and gentle in the plains. With more number of tributaries, the basin of the river is very huge.

3. BRAHMAPUTRA RIVER SYSTEM:

SOURCE: The Brahmaputra River originates in Tibet to the east of Manas Sarovar Lake.

COURSE: The Brahmaputra River mostly flow outside India from the point of its origin and
in the middle course, enters Arunachal Pradesh and later into Assam. Then, it flows
eastwards into Bangladesh. In Bangladesh, Brahmaputra River is called as River Padma.

TRIBUTARIES: In Arunachal Pradesh Dibang, Lohit and Kenula Rivers are its tributaries.

CHARACTERISTICS: The length of the river is 2900 km and is one of the longest rivers of
the world.

PENINSULAR RIVERS

These rivers are confined to the peninsular region and are dependent on rainfall for
water.
Unlike Himalayan Rivers, these rivers are shorter with small basins.
NARMADA, TAPI, GODAVARI, KRISHNA, CAUVERY and MAHANADI are the main
rivers.

1. NARMADA BASIN:
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It originates in Amarkantak hills in Madhya Pradesh and flows towards the west to join
the Arabian Sea. It covers the states of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.

2. TAPI BASIN:

It rises in Madhya Pradesh and covering the states of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and
Maharashtra join the Arabian Sea.

3. GODAVARI BASIN:

It is known as DAKSHIN GANGA due to its area covered (over 1500 km). The Godavari River
originates in Nasik in Maharashtra and covers the states of Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, and
Andhra Pradesh. Flowing eastwards, it joins in the Bay of Bengal.

4. KRISHNA BASIN:

It rises near MAHABALESHWAR in Maharashtra and covering an area of 1300 km, it flows
through Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh and reaches the Bay of Bengal.

5. CAUVERY BASIN:

Cauvery River originates in the Western Ghats and covering an area of 760 km, it reaches
the Bay of Bengal in Tamil Nadu. The states covered are Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil
Nadu.

Besides the above other rivers include Mahi, Sabarmati, Subarna Rekha and so on.

CONCLUSION

All the rivers in India, despite their location, are considered holy by the people. There is a
proposal of interlinking all the Indian rivers in order to utilise the waste flowing water in
drought areas.

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