Indian Rivers The drainage system of India

Role of rivers in India plays a major role in the lives of people. Indian Rivers is the drainage system of India. A drainage system is an integrated system of tributaries and a trunk stream which collects and drains surface water into the sea.

The drainage system of India is broadly divided into two major groups on the basis of their location:

· The Himalayan rivers

· The Peninsular rivers

Himalayan Rivers

· Indus

· Ganga

· Brahmaputra

Peninsular Rivers

· Mahanadi

· Godavari

· Krishna

· Cauvery

· Narmada

· Tapti

Himalayan Rivers

Himalayan rivers are found in north India. These are originating from Himalayas. Himalayan rivers are perennial rivers.

The Indus River

The Indus River is one of the largest rivers of the world. It originates from the northern slope of the Kailash range in Tibet near Mana Sarovar Lake.

Its length is about 2,880 km. But in India its length Only 709 km. The river has a total drainage area extending 11,65,500 sq. km in which 321,289 sq. km areas are drained in India.

The Ganga River

The Ganga River system is the largest drainage system of India. it extends over and area of 8,61,404 sq km in India.

The length of the river Ganga is about 2,525 km. In Bangladesh, The river Ganga is known as the River Padma.

The Brahmaputra River

The river Brahmaputra originates from the Chemayungdung Glacier of the Kailash range to the east of Lake Mana Sarovar in Tibetan.

The total area of Brahmaputra is about 5,80,000 sq km. The drainage area lying in India is 1,94,413 sq. km This river is known as Tsangpo (Purifier) in Tibet.

The length of this river is about 2,900 km. In India its length is about 900 km. It enters into India through a gorge in Arunachal Pradesh which name is Dihang. It has many tributaries namely Tista, Manas, Barak, Subansiri.

Peninsular Rivers

The rivers in south India are called the Peninsular rivers. Most of these rivers originate from the Western Ghats.

These are seasonal rivers. These are non–perennial rivers. They have a large seasonal fluctuation in volume of water as they are solely fed by rain.

Mahanadi

The river Mahanadi originates near Sihawa in Raipur district of Chattisgarh. It flows through Odisha. Its length is 851 km. Seonath, Telen, Sandur and Ib are its major tributaries.

Godavari

Godavari is the longest river in the Peninsular rivers. Its length is about 1,465km with an area of 3.13 lakh km. It is also called Vridha Ganga.

It originates in Nasik district of Maharashtra, a portion of Western Ghats. It flows through the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh before joining Bay of Bengal.

Krishna

The river Krishna originates from a spring at a place called Mahabaleshwar in the Western Ghats of Maharashtra. Its length is 1,400 km and an area of 2.58 lakh sq km.

The river Krishna is the second longest Peninsular river.

Kaveri

The river Kaveri originates at Talakaveri, Kudagu hills of Karnataka. Its length is 800 km.

The river kaveri is called Dhakshin Ganga or Ganga of south.

Harangi, Hemavati, Kabini, Bhavani, Arkavathy, Noyyal, Amaravathi etc are the main tributaries of the river Kaveri.

Narmada

This river rises in Amarkantak Plateau in Madhya Pradesh. Its length is about 1,312 km. it covers for the area of 98,796 sq km and forms 27 km long estuary before outfalling into th Arabian Sea through the Gulf of Cambay.

Tapti

The Tapti is one of the major rivers of Peninsular India. Its length of about 724 km. It covers an area of 65,145 sq km.

Tapti river rises near Multai in the Betul district of Madhya Pradesh. The major tributaries are Vaki, Gomai, Arunavati, Aner, Nesu, Buray, Panjhra and Bori. It outfalls into the Arabian Sea through the Gulf of Cambay.