Drainage System of India
Drainage System of India
The drainage systems of India are mainly controlled by the
broad relief features of the subcontinent. Accordingly, the
Indian rivers are divided into two major groups:
the Himalayan rivers; and
the Peninsular rivers.
Apart from originating from the two major physiographic
regions of India, the Himalayan and the Peninsular Rivers are
different from each other in many ways. Most of the Himalayan
Rivers are perennial. It means that they have water throughout
the year. These rivers receive water from rain as well as from
melted snow from the lofty mountains. The two major
Himalayan Rivers, the Indus and the Brahmaputra originate
from the north of the mountain ranges. They have cut through
the mountains making gorges. The Himalayan Rivers have long
courses from their source to the sea. They perform intensive
erosional activity in their upper courses and carry huge loads of
silt and sand. In the middle and the lower courses, these rivers
form meanders, oxbow lakes, and many other depositional
features in their floodplains. They also have well-developed
deltas. A large number of the Peninsular Rivers are seasonal, as
their flow is dependent on rainfall. During the dry season, even
the large rivers have reduced flow of water in their channels. The Peninsular Rivers have shorter and shallower courses as
compared to their Himalayan counterparts. However, some of
them originate in the central highlands and flow towards the
west. Most of the rivers of peninsular India originate in the
Western Ghats and flow towards the Bay of Bengal.
1. HIMALAYAN DRAINAGE SYSTEM
Indus River System
Indus River is great trans-Himalayan river of South Asia. It is
one of the longest rivers in the world, with a length of some
1,800 miles (2,900 km). Its total drainage area is about 450,000
square miles (1,165,000 square km), of which 175,000 square
miles (453,000 square km) lie in the Himalayan ranges and
foothills and the rest in the semiarid plains of Pakistan. The Indus originates in the Kailash range in Tibet near Lake
Manasarovar. It follows a north-westerly course through Tibet. It enters Indian Territory in Jammu and Kashmir. It forms a
picturesque gorge in this part. Several tributaries - 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 south west direction before entering Pakistan. It has
a large number of tributaries in both India and Pakistan and has
a total length of about 2880 km from the source to the point near
Karachi where it falls into the Arabian Sea. The main tributaries
of the Indus in India are Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej.
The principal rivers of the Indus River system are snow-fed. Their flow varies greatly at different times of the year: the
discharge is at a minimum during the winter months (December
to February); there is a rise of water in spring and early summer
(March to June); and foods occur in the rainy season (July to
September). Occasionally there are devastating flash foods. The
Indus and its tributaries receive all their waters in the hilly upper
parts of their catchments. Therefore, their flow is at a maximum
where they emerge out of the foothills, and little surface flow is
added in the plains, where evaporation and seepage considerably
reduce the flow volume. On the other hand, some water is added
by seepage in the period after the monsoon months. In the main
stream of the Indus, the water level is at its lowest from mid
December to mid-February. After this the river starts rising, slowly at First and then more rapidly at the end of March. The
high-water level usually occurs between mid-July and
mid-August. The river then falls rapidly until the beginning of
October, when the water level subsides more gradually. Its left bank tributary is the Panjnad which itself has five
major tributaries, namely, the Chenab, Jhelum, the Ravi, the
Beas, and the Sutlej . Its principal right bank tributaries are
the Shyok, the Gilgit, the Kabul, the Gomal, and the Kurram.
The Ganga River System
The Ganga river system consists of the River Ganga and a large
number of its tributaries. This system drains a very large area
comprising the middle part of the Himalayas in the north, the
northern part of the Indian Plateau in the south and the Ganga Plain
in-between. The total area of the Ganga basin in India is 861,404 sq. km which accounts for 26.3 per cent of the geographical area of the
country. This basin is shared by ten states. These states are
Uttaranchal and Uttar Pradesh (34.2%), Madhya Pradesh and
Chhattisgarh (23.1%), Bihar and Jharkhand (16.7%), Rajasthan
(13.0%), West Bengal (8.3%), Haryana (4.0%) and Himachal
Pradesh (0.5%). The Union Territory of Delhi accounts for 0.2% of
the total area of the Ganga Basin
The Ganga originates as Bhagirathi from the Gangotri glacier in
Uttar Kashi District of Uttaranchal at an elevation of 7,010 m. Alakhnanda joins it at Devaprayag. But before Devaprayag, the
Pindar, the Mandakini, the Dhauliganga and the Bishenganga
rivers pour into the Alaknanda and the Bheling flows into the
Bhagirathi. The total length of the Ganga River from its source
to its mouth (measured along the Hugli) is 2525 km, of which
310 km in Uttaranchal, 1140 km in Uttar Pradesh, 445 km in
Bihar and 520 km in West Bengal. The remaining 110 km
stretch of the Ganga forms the boundary between Uttar Pradesh
and Bihar. Before entering the Bay of Bengal, the Ganga, along with
Brahmaputra, forms the largest delta of the world between two
arms: the Bhagirathi Hugli and the Padma/Meghna covering an
area of 58,752 sq km. The delta front of the Ganga is a highly
indented area of about 400 km length extending from the mouth
of the Hugli to the mouth of the Meghna. The delta is made of a
web of distributaries and islands and is covered by dense forests
called the Sunderbans. A major part of the delta is a low- lying
swamp which is flooded by marine water during high tide. Major left-bank tributaries include Gomti River, Ghaghara
River, Gandaki river, and Kosi river; major right-bank
tributaries include Yamuna river, Son river, Punpun and
Damodar.
Brahmaputra River System
The river Brahmaputra covers a catchment area of about
5,80,000 Sq.km. right from its origin in Himalayan Lake
Manasarover at an elevation of about 5,150 m in Tibet to the
outfall in the Bay of Bengal. It flows eastward in Tibet and
south, south-west in India and traverses a distance of about 2900
km out of which 1,700 km is in Tibet, 900 km is in India and
300 km is in Bangladesh. In the upper reaches, the river is fed
by the glaciers and in the lower reaches, it is joined by a number
of tributaries which originates at different elevation in the hills
encircling the catchment, forming watershed. Among the
tributaries Subansiri, Manas, Jiabharali, Pagladiya, Puthimari
and Sankosh, etc are snow fed. The Tibetan name of river is “TSANGPO” and Chinese name is “YALUZANGBU”. The watershed area is mostly on the
northern side of the river in this region. After traversing a
distance of about 1700 km eastwardly, the river changes its
course from east to south and then enters the Arunachal Pradesh
in Indian Territory. Its name also changes from “TSANGPO” to
Siang and Dehang in Arunachal Pradesh. The river then flows
almost in Southern direction for another distance of about 200
km upto Passighat. Before touching plains it is joined by two
major Himalayan tributaries viz. Lohit and Debang. The
combined flow of these rivers is known as the Brahmaputra and
passes through the plains of Assam and Bangladesh before
falling into the Bay of Bengal. From Passighat to Dhubri where
it travels in plains of Assam is well known as Brahmaputra
valley. The important tributaries of River Brahmaputra are:
Left bank tributaries: Dhansiri, Kapili, Barak. Right bank tributaries: Subansiri, Jia Bhoraeli, Manas, Sankosh, Tista & Raidak
Dhansiri: Rises from Naga Hills. Sankosh: It’s the main river of Bhutan, meets Brahmaputra at
Dhubri, Assam. Manas: Rises from Tibet and joins Brahmaputra on its right
bank. Subansiri: It is flows in between the Mikir hills & Abor hills and
later joins Brahmaputra on its right bank. Tista: Rises from Kanchan-junga, fed by the tributaries like
Rangit & Rangpo, it joins the Brahmaputra river in Bangladesh. Barak: Rises in Nagaland. It enters Bangladesh as River Surma
which falls into River Padma at Chandpur.
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