major river groups of india
TRANSCRIPT
-
7/27/2019 Major River Groups of India
1/3
Major river groups of India
Based on the topography, the river systems of India can be classified into four groups. These are:
Himalayan Rivers Deccan Rivers Coastal Rivers Rivers of the Inland Drainage Basin
The Himalayan Rivers
The Himalayan Rivers receive input from rain as well as snowmelt and glacier melt and, therefore,have continuous flow throughout the year. During the monsoon months of June to September,
Himalayas receive very heavy rainfall and experience maximum snow melt and these are the periods
when the rivers carry about 80% or more of the annual flows. This is also the time when these rivers
are prone to flooding.
The main river systems in Himalayas are those of the Indus and the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna.
The Indus rises near Mansarovar in Tibet. Flowing through Kashmir, it enters Pakistan and finally
falls in the Arabian Sea near Karachi. A number of important tributaries of Indus flow through India,
namely, the Sutlej, the Beas, the Ravi, the Chenab and the Jhelum.
Bhagirathi and Alakhnanda are two important rivers that originate in Garhwal Himalayas. These join
at Devprayag to form Ganga which is the most sacred river of India. This river traverses through
Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal and thereafter enters Bangladesh. The important
tributaries of Ganga are the Yamuna, the Ramganga, the Ghaghra, the Gandak, the Kosi, and the
Sone. Many of these tributaries are mighty rivers themselves. Yamuna River is an important tributary
of Ganga and its own important tributaries are Chambal and Betwa.
The Brahmaputra rises in Tibet where it is known by the name Tsangpo. It enters India in Arunachal
Pradesh and after traversing through Assam, enters Bangladesh. Its important tributaries are the
Dibang, Lohit, Subansiri, Manas and Teesta. Ganga and Brahmaputra rivers meet at Goalundo inBangladesh. The Barak River, the head stream of Meghna rises in the hills in Manipur. The Meghna
is the part of Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna-System. The combined Ganga-Brahmaputra River meets
Meghna in Bangladesh and their huge volume of water flows into the Bay of Bengal.
Harnessing the waters of the major rivers that flow from the Himalayas is of paramount importance
for India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. Through a close collaboration and pooling resources, huge benefits
can be realized from flood control, assured irrigation, hydroelectric power generation, employment
generation, and improvement of environmental quality. As these countries grapple with the political
compulsions and realities, both domestic and international, of utilizing the flow of the Ganga-
Brahmaputra system, precious water, largely unutilized, continues to flow to the sea. At times, it also
inflicts large losses to life and property.
Principal Himalayan rivers of India
Group
No.Order of magnitude (Area in km2) Name of river Himalayan area included in
catchment (km2)
I Above 256,000 Indus 265,728
II Between 128,000 and 256,000 Brahmaputra 253,952
III Between 38,400 and 128,000 Kosi 61,184
Karnali 52,736
Satluj 47,360
IV Between 25,600 and 38,400 Gandak 37,376
-
7/27/2019 Major River Groups of India
2/3
e um ,
Manas 30,720
Chenab 26,880
Raidak 26,112
V Between 12,800 and 25,600 Ganga 22,784
Luhit 20,480
Subansiri 17,920
Kali 16,128
Beas 14,336
Dibang 12,800
VI Below 12,800 Tista 12,288
Yamuna 11,520
Ravi 7,936
Rapti 7,680
Ramganga 6,656
Baghmati 3,840
The Deccan Rivers
The rivers of Deccan can be further classified in two groups: west flowing rivers and east flowing
rivers. The Narmada and the Tapi rivers flow westwards into Arabian Sea. The important east
flowing rivers are the Brahmani, the Mahanadi, the Godavari, the Krishna, the Pennar, and the
Cauvery. These rivers fall into the Bay of Bengal.
The Mahanadi, rising in the state of Madhya Pradesh, is an important river in the state of Orissa. In
the upper drainage basin of Mahanadi, which is centered on the Chhattisgarh Plain, periodic droughts
contrast with the situation in the delta region where floods damage the crops in the rice bowl ofOrissa. Hirakud Dam, constructed in the middle reaches of Mahanadi, has helped in alleviating these
adverse effects to a large extent by creating a reservoir.
The source of the Godavari is near Nasik, northeast of Mumbai (Bombay) in the state of
Maharashtra, and the river follows a southeasterly course for 1,400 kilometers (km) to its mouth on
the Andhra Pradesh coast. The Godavari basin is second in size only to Ganga; its delta on the east
coast is also one of the country's main rice-growing areas. It is known as the Ganga of the South but
despite the large catchment area, its discharge is moderate. The reason is medium depth of annual
rainfall, for example, about 700 mm at Nasik and 1,000 mm at Nizamabad.
The Krishna rises in the Western Ghats and flows east into the Bay of Bengal. Its flow is not very
large because of low rainfall in its catchment area: 660 mm annually at Pune. The Krishna is the third
longest river in India.
The source of the Cauvery is in the state of Karnataka and the river flows southeastward. Its main
tributaries are the Bhima, the Tungabhadra, the Ghatprabha and the Malaprabha. The waters of the
river have been a source of irrigation since antiquity; in the early 1990s, an estimated 95% of the
Cauvery flow was diverted for agricultural use.
The Narmada and the Tapi are the only major rivers that flow eastward into the Arabian Sea. The
Narmada rises in Madhya Pradesh and crosses the state, passing swiftly through a narrow valley
between the Vindhya Range and spurs of the Satpura Range. It flows into the Gulf of Khambhat (or
Cambay). Tapi which is of shorter length follows a generally parallel course, between 80 km and 160
-
7/27/2019 Major River Groups of India
3/3
,
way into the Gulf of Khambhat.
The Coastal Rivers
There are numerous coastal rivers which are comparatively small. While only handful of such rivers
drain into the sea near the deltas of east coast, there are as many as 600 such rivers on the west
coast. The West Coast rivers are important as they contain as much as 14% of the countrys water
resources while draining only 3% of the land.
Rivers of the Inland Drainage Basin
The rivers of the inland system, centered in western Rajasthan state, are few and frequently
disappear in years of scant rainfall. A few rivers in Rajasthan do not drain into the sea. They drain
into salt lakes or get lost in sands with no outlet to sea.