Important notes on RIVERS OF INDIA

Indian River system is divided into two major groups:-

1) Himalayan Rivers

a) Indus River system

b) Ganga River system

c) Brahmaputra River system

2) Peninsular Rivers

a) East flowing

b) West flowing

Now in this part of the post, we talk about the first major group called Himalayan Rivers. In this there are three major river systems:

a) The Indus River System

1. It has a total length of 2880 km (709 km in India). 

2. Rises in Tibet (China) near Mansarovar Lake.

3. In Jammu and Kashmir, its Himalayan tributaries are: Zanskar, Dras, Gartang, Shyok, Shigar,Nubra, Gilgit, etc.

Its most important tributaries and their sources, which join Indus at various places, are: 

1. Jhelum (Length 725 km),It originates from Verinag (South East of Kashmir),

2. Chenab (Length 1800 km),It originates from Bara Lacha Pass (Lahaul-Spiti),

3. Ravi (Length 720 km),It originates from Kullu Hills near Rohtang Pass in Himalyan Ranges,

4. Beas (Length 470 km),It originates from a place near Rohtang Pass,

5. Satluj (Length 1050 km),It originates from Mansarovar – Rakas lakes in W. Tibet.

NOTE:

(a). In Nari Khorsan province of Tibet, Satluj has created an extraordinary canyon, comparable to the Grand Canyon of Colorado (US).

(b). According to the Indus Water Treaty signed between India and Pakistan in 1960, India can utilize only 20% of the total discharge of Indus, Jhelum and Chenab.

b) The Ganga River System

1. It is 2525 km long of which 1450 km is in Uttarakhand and UP, 445 km in Bihar and 520 km in West Bengal.

2. The Ganga, the head stream is constituted of two main rivers – Bhagirthi and Alaknanda, which

combine at Devprayag to form Ganga.

3. Before Alaknanda meets Bhagirthi at Devprayag, Mandakini meets Alaknanda at Rudraprayag.

4. Sources: Bhagirthi from Gaumukh, 

o  Alaknanda from Badrinath, 

o  Mandakini from Kedarnath (all from Uttarakhand).

5. Yamuna (1375 km) is its most important tributary (on right bank). 

o  It rises at the Yamunotri glacier in Uttarakhand. 

o  It runs parallel to Ganga for 800km and joins it at Allahabad. 

o  Important tributaries of Yamuna are Chambal (1050 km), Sind, Betwa (480 km) and Ken (all from south).

6. Apart from Yamuna, other tributaries of Ganga are Ghaghra (1080 km), Son (780 km), Gandak(425 km), Kosi (730 km), Gomti (805 km), Damodar (541 km). 

7. Kosi is infamous as ‘Sorrow of Bihar’, while Damodar gets the name ‘Sorrow of Bengal’ as these cause floods in these regions.

8. Hooghli is a distributary of Ganga flowing through Kolkata.

c) The Brahmaputra System

1. It has a total length of 2900 km. It rises in Tibet (from Chemayungdung glacier), where it is called Tsangpo, and enters the Indian territory (in Arunachal Pradesh) under the name Dihang.

2. Important Tributaries: Subansiri, Kameng, Dhansiri, Manas, Teesta.

3. In Bangladesh, Brahmaputra is known by the name of Jamuna while Ganga gets the name Padma. Their combined stream is known as Padma only. 

4. Meghna is the most important distributary before it enters the Bay of Bengal.

5. The combined stream of Ganga and Brahmaputra forms the biggest delta in the world, the

Sundarbans, covering an area of  58,752 sq. km. Its major part is in Bangladesh.

6. On Brahmaputra is the river island, Majuli in Assam, the biggest river island in the world.

7. Brahmaputra, or the Red River, is navigable for a distance of 1384 km up to Dibrugarh and serves as an excellent inland water transport route.