India has an extensive drainage system from the extreme north to south. However a part of Rajasthan is desert, but then the rest of India has a good drainage system. There are two Major River Systems in India. Apart from that, there are smaller river systems as well.
1. Himalayan Rivers – This river system has rivers flowing through the Himalayas. There are two subcategories of this rivers system.Trans
A. Trans Himalayan Rivers – These rivers originate from the Tibetan plateau, beyond the Great Himalayan range. These rivers are Indus, Sutlej and Brahmputra.
B. Himalayan Rivers – These rivers originate from the Himalayas only and then flow through the northern plain. These rivers are The Ganga (Ganges), the Yamuna and their tributaries. The Himalayan rivers are very useful for irrigation, navigation and their respective river basins have fertile alluvial deposits.
The Himalayan rivers make the following river systems –
i. The Indus System – Indus river rises near the Mansarover Lake at an altitude of 5,180 metres, in the north of Ladakh and Kailash Ranges of the Himalaya. It enters the Indian Territory in Laddakh and Jammu and Kashmir where several tributaries namely the Zaskar, the Shyok, the Nubra and the Hunza join it in the Kashmir region. It flows through the regions of Ladakh, Baltistan and Gilgit and runs between the Ladakh Range and the Zaskar Range. It crosses the Himalayas through a 5181 m deep gorge near Attock, lying north of the Nanga Parbat and later takes a bend to the southwest direction before entering Pakistan. It has a large number of tributaries in both India and Pakistan and has a total length of about 2897 km from the source to the point near Karachi where it falls into the Arabian Sea. Its main tributaries in India are Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej.
ii. The Brahmputra system – The Brahmaputra originates near the Mansarovar lake, also the source of the Indus and the Satluj. In Tibet, it is known as Tsangpo and runs parallel to the Himalayas. It has two main tributaries Dehang and Luhit merging near Sadiya. Its tributaries are the Subansiri, the Kameng. The Tista, and Manas on the right bank and Burri Dihang, Disang, Kapila and Dhansiri on left bank. Tista was about 200 years ago a tributary of Ganga but in 1787 the great flood changed its direction making it a tributary of the Brahmaputra. It is slightly longer than the Indus, but most of its course lies outside India. It flows eastward, parallel to the Himalayas. In India, it flows through Arunachal Pradesh and Assam and is joined by several tributaries.
iii. The Ganga System – The Ganga (Ganges) rises from the Gangotri Glacier in the Garhwal Himalayas (Uttarakhand, India) at an elevation of some 4100 metres above the sea level under the name of Bhagirathi. This mainstream of the river flows through the Himalayas till other two streams – the Mandakini and the Alaknanda – join it. Mandakini finally merges with Alaknanda and the latter merges with Bhagirathi at Dev Prayag, the point of confluence. The combined stream is then known as the Ganga (Holy Ganges). The main tributaries of the Ganga are Yamuna, Ram Ganga, Gomati, Ghaghara, Son, Damodar and Sapt Kosi. The river after traversing a distance of 2525 km from its source, a minor stream meets the Bay of Bengal at Ganga Sagar in West Bengal. Beyond Farakka, the mainstream of Ganga flows into Bangladesh and there it is known as the Padma. Before falling into the Bay of Bengal, the Padma merges with the Brahmaputra known here as Jamuna and Meghna.
iv. Yamuna River System – The River Yamuna originates from the Yamunotri glacier at an altitude of 6387m, in Uttarkashi (Uttarakhand). The catchment of the river extends to states of Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and the entire union territory of Delhi. The river flows 1367 km from here to its confluence with the River Ganga at Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh. The main tributaries joining the river include the Hindon, Chambal, Sind, Betwa and Ken.
2. Peninsular Rivers – Most of the Peninsular Rivers originate in the hills of Western Ghats. However, some rivers also originate from the central or eastern part of India. Since these rivers are mainly fed by rainfall, so their discharge significantly fluctuates accordingly. These rivers flow in valleys with steep gradients. Major Peninsular rivers are Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Cauvery and they flow eastward and merge into the Bay of Bengal. There are other two main rivers Narmada and Tapti, which flow westward and merge into the Arabian sea.
i. Narmada River System – The Narmada is the main river in central India. It has a total length of 1,289 km. Among the major rivers of peninsular India, only the Narmada, the Tapti and the Mahi run from east to west. It rises on the Amarkantak Hill in Madhya Pradesh state and flows through the Mandla Hills, which are the head of the Satpura Range. At Jabalpur, while passing through the ‘Marble Rocks’, it enters the Narmada Valley between the Vindhya and Satpura ranges, and from there it pursues a direct westerly course to the Gulf of Cambay in the Bharuch district of Gujarat.
ii. Mahanadi River System – The Mahanadi River system is the third-largest in the peninsula of India and the largest river of Orissa state. It has a total length of 851 km. The river basin is characterized by a tropical climate with 90% rainfall occurring during the SW-monsoon. The river originates in the Baster hills of Chhattisgarh, at the Dahmtari district. It flows over different geological formations of the Eastern Ghats and adjacent areas and falls in the Bay of Bengal making a delta. The main branches of River Mahanadi meet the Bay of Bengal at Paradip and Nuagarh (Devi estuary).
iii. Tapti River System – The Tapti or Tapi is another main river of central India. Rising from Multai in the district of Betul in Madhya Pradesh, It is one of the major rivers of peninsular India with a length of around 724 km. It runs from east to west. It rises in the eastern Satpura Range and flows westward, draining Madhya Pradesh’s historic Nimar region, Maharashtra’s historic Khandesh and east Vidarbha region in the northwest corner of the Deccan Plateau and South Gujarat before falling into the Gulf of Cambay of the Arabian Sea, near Surat in Gujarat. The main tributaries of Tapti / Tapi River are Purna River, Girna River, Panzara River, Waghur River, Bori River and Aner River.
iv. Godavari River System – The river with the second-longest course within India, Godavari is also referred to as the Vruddh (Old) Ganga or the Dakshin (South) Ganga. The river is about 1,450 km (900 miles) long. It rises at Trimbakeshwar, near Nasik and Mumbai in Maharashtra around 380 km distance from the Arabian Sea, but flows southeast across south-central and falls into the Bay of Bengal. In Andhra Pradesh, at Rajahmundry, 80 km from the coast, the river splits into two streams thus forming a very fertile delta. Its main tributaries are Indravati River, Manjira, Bindusara and Sabari. Some major urban habitations on its banks include Nasik, Bhadrachalam, Rajahmundry and Narsapur. Asia’s largest rail-cum-road bridge on the river Godavari linking Kovvur and Rajahmundry is considered to be an engineering marvel.
v. Krishna River System – The Krishna is one of the longest rivers of India and flows 1300 km in length. It rises at Mahabaleswar in Maharashtra, passes through Sangli and falls in the Bay of Bengal at Hamasaladeevi in Andhra Pradesh. The traditional source of the river is a spout from the mouth of a statue of a cow in the ancient temple of Mahadev in Mahabaleshwar. Its most important tributary is the Tungabhadra River, which itself is formed by the Tunga and Bhadra rivers originating in the Western Ghats. Its other tributaries are the Koyna, Bhima, Mallaprabha, Ghataprabha, Yerla, Warna, Dindi, Musi and Dudhganga rivers.
vi. Kaveri (Cauveri) River System – The Kaveri is one of the great rivers of India and is considered sacred by the Hindus in southern India. This river is also called Dakshin Ganga. It rises in the Western Ghats range of Karnataka state and merges the Bay of Bengal. The source of the river is Talakaveri located in the Western Ghats about 5,000 feet (1,500 m) above sea level. It flows generally south and east for around 765 km, falling into the Bay of Bengal through two principal mouths. Its main tributaries are Shiksha, Hemavati, Arkavathy, Kapila, Honnuhole, Lakshmana Tirtha, Kabini, Lokapavani, Bhavani, Noyyal and Amaravati.
