Major rivers of India
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The rivers of India play an important role in the lives of the Indian people. The river systems provide irrigation, potable water, cheap transportation, electricity, and the livelihoods 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 mythology and are considered holy by all Hindus in the country.
Seven major rivers along with their numerous tributaries make up the river system of India. Most 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. Dr.Francis Buchanan surveyed the courses of the rivers of India along with their tributaries and branches in 1810-11 AD and presented a minute account of it. The shifting of the courses and bed over the centuries is very remarkable. Many of the channels mentioned in that survey have now become dead , dried or even extinct.
All major rivers of India originate from one of the three main watersheds:
- The Himalaya and the Karakoram ranges
- Vindhya and Satpura ranges and Chotanagpur plateau in central India
- Sahyadri or Western Ghats in western India
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[edit] The Himalayan River System
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.
[edit] Ganges River System
The major river Ganges,and its tributaries like Yamuna, Son, and Gandak, which have been left out of the list, actually formulates the biggest cultivable plains of north and eastern India, known as the Gangetic plains. The main river, the holy Ganges forms by the joining of the Alaknanda River and Bhagirathi River at Devprayag. The Bhagirathi, which is considered the Ganges' true source, starts from Gomukh . Known as the Padma River in Bangladesh, it joins the Jamuna River, the largest distributary of the [[Brcond longest river of India. The Brahmaputra is longer, but most of its course is not in India.The Ganges Brahmaputra river system forms the largest delta in the world known as the Sunderbans before emptying into the Bay of Bengal.
[edit] Indus River System
The Indus River originates in the northern slopes of the Kailash range near Lake Mansarovar in Tibet. Although most of the river's course runs through neighbouring Pakistan, 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 region of South Asia; the name is derived from the ("five") and aab ("water"), hence the combination of the words (Punjab) means "five waters" or "land of five waters". b
[edit] Beas
The Beas originates in Bias Kund,lying near the Rohtang pass. It runs past Manali and Kulu, where its valley is known as the Kulu valley. It joins the Sutlej river near Harika, after being joined by a few tributaries. The total length of the river is 615 km. Flowing west, it enters India in the Ladakh district of Jammu and Kashmir.
[edit] Chenab
The Chenab originates from the confluence of two rivers, the Chandra and the Bhaga, It is also known as the Chandrabhaga in Himachal . It runs parallel to the Pir Panjal Range It enters the plains of Punjab near Akhnur and is later joined by the Jhelum. It is further joined by the river Ravi and the Sutlej in Pakistan.
[edit] Jhelum
The Jhelum originates in the south-eastern part of Jammu and Kashmir, in a spring known as Verinag. One of its important tributaries is Krishna-Ganga.
[edit] Ravi
The Ravi originates near the Rothang pass in the Himalayas and follows a north-westerly course. It turns to the south-west, near Dalhousie, and then cuts a gorge in the Dhaola Dhar range entering the Punjab plain near Madhopur. It flows as a part of the Indo-Pakistan border for some distance before entering Pakistan and joining the Chenab river.
[edit] Sutlej (Satluj)
The Sutlej originates from the Rakas Lake (Rakshas Tal), which is connected to the Manasarovar lake by a stream, in Tibet. It enters Pakistan near Sulemanki, and is later joined by the Chenab. It has a total length of almost 1500 km. The first village where it enters in India is Namge.
[edit] The Brahmaputra River System
The Brahmaputra originates in Tibet, near the sources of the Indus and the Sutlej. It is about 2,900 kilometres (1,800 mi) long. In Tibet, where it is known as the Yarlung Zangbo River, or Tsangpo, it flows east, parallel to the Himalayas. Reaching Namjagbarwa, it turns south and enters India in Arunachal Pradesh, where is it known as Dihang. In Assam it is called the Brahmaputra. Just before entering Bangladesh it splits into two distributaries, the larger of which is called the Jamuna River.an a
[edit] 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 mouth. The Narmada and Tapi are the only long rivers, which flow west and make esturies.
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