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Geography of India - Rivers of India
The rivers of India can be classified into four groups:-
- The rivers arising from Himalayas
- Rivers of the south
- Coastal rivers
- Rivers of the basin and inland nalas
Rivers arising from Himalayas
The rivers arising from Himalayas are formed by the melting of ice in the glaciers therefore they flow all the year round. There is a lot of rain in the Himalayan region during the monsoons which leads ot floods in these rivers. The main river systems coming out of Himalayas are Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna.
Indus River – It is one of the great rivers of the World. It originates from Mansarowar in Tibet and flows through India and ends in the Arabian Sea near Karachi in Pakistan. Its tributaries in India are Satluj (Come out from Tibet), Beas, Ravi, Chinab and Jhelum.
Ganges – Alaknanda and Bhagirathi meet in Devprayag to become Ganges. This river flows through Uttarakhans, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal. One branch of this river falls in the Bay of Bengal in West Bengal while the other branch continues as Padma in Bangladesh and joins the Brahmaputra. Many important cities are on the banks of ganges – Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna, Kolkata etc.
Tributaries of Ganges – Yamuna, Ramganaga, Ghaghra, Gandak, Kosi and Son are important tributaries of the Ganges. Chambal and Betwa are important tributaries of Yamuna. Padma meets Bhrahmaputra in Bangladesh and flows as Padma or Ganga. Important tributaries of Brahmaputra in India are Subansiri, Ghansiri, Puthibhari, Pagaldiya and Manas. Teesta meets Brahmaputra in Bangladesh before it joins Ganges. Barak is the main tributary of Meghna which comes out from Manipur hills. Its major tributaries are Makku, Tong, Tuiwai, Jiri, Rukvi, Kacharwal, Ghalrewli, Longachini, Mhauwa, and Jatinga. Barak river meets Ganga-Brahmaputra in Bangladesh.
Rivers of the South
The rivers which are south of Deccan mostly flow towards the east and fall in the Bay of Bengal. Godawari, Krishna, Kaveri and Mahanadi are important rivers of the south. Narmada and Tapti flow towards the west. The Godawari basin in the south form 10% of the land mass of India. Next largest is the Krishna basin. Mahanadi comes at third place. Narmada basin forms the part north of Deccan. It flows towards Arabian Sea.
Coastal Rivers
India has many coastal rivers which are relatively small. Some of them fall in the ocean near the eastern coast, while the western coast has approximately 600 such rivers. Some rivers in Rajasthan do not fall into the ocean. The fall in salt water lakes or end in the sand. In addition there are some desert rivers which flow only for a short distance and disappear in the desert. Examples of such rivers are Luni, Machchhak, Spahan, Saraswati, Banas and Ghaghar.