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The rivers in India play an important role in the lives of the people. They provide potable water, cheap transportation, electricity, and the livelihood for many people nationwide. 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 Religion and are considered holy by many Hindus in the country.[1]

Seven major rivers along with their numerous tributaries make up the river system of India. The largest basin system 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.

All major rivers of India originate from one of the following main watersheds:

  1. Aravalli range
  2. Himalaya and Karakoram ranges
  3. Sahyadri or Western Ghats in western India
  4. Vindhya and Satpura ranges and Chotanagpur plateau in central India

Himalayan glaciers in the Indian subcontinent are broadly divided into the three river basins, namely the Indus, Ganga and Brahmaputra. The Indus basin has the largest number of glaciers (3500), whereas the Ganga and Brahmaputra basins contain about 1000 and 660 glaciers, respectively.[2] Ganga is the largest river system in India. However these rivers are just three among many. Other examples are Narmada, Tapathi, and Godavari.


The Indo-Gangetic plains


The Indo gangetic plains are known as Ganga-Satluj Ka Maidaan (गँगा सतलुज का मैदान), this area is drained by 16 major rivers. 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 (in India Arabian sea and Bay of Bengal).

Laxman Jhoola in Rishikesh
Laxman Jhoola in Rishikesh

Aravalli Range River System


Following rivers flow from the Aravalli range, both northwards to Yamuna as well as southwards to Arabian Sea.


Ganges River System


The major rivers in this system are (in order of merging, from west to east)

Before entering Bangladesh, near Farakka in Malda District, Ganga leaves a distributary Hoogly, 450 kilometres (280 mi) which provides water for irrigation in West Bengal


Brahmaputra River System


Brahmaputra River basin across Northeast India
Brahmaputra River basin across Northeast India

The Brahmaputra river originates / starts from Tibet.


Indus River System


The Indus River originates in the northern slopes of the Kailash range near Lake Manasarovar in Tibet. Although most of the river's course runs through neighbouring Pakistan, as per as regulation of Indus water treaty of 1960, India can use only 20 percent of the water in this river. A portion of it does run through Indian territory, as do parts of the course. The rivers forming Panjnad are Chenab , Satluj , Jhelum , Ravi and Beas These tributaries are the source of the name of the Punjab of South Asia; the name is derived from the panch ("five") and aab ("water"), hence the combination of the words (Punjab) means "land with the water of five rivers". The Indus is 3,610 kilometres (2,240 mi) long.

The major rivers in Indus river system are (in order of their length):


Annual flows and other data


India experiences an average precipitation of 1,170 millimetres (46 in) per year, or about 4,000 cubic kilometres (960 cu mi) of rains annually.[8] Some 80 percent of its area experiences rains of 50 inches (1,300 mm) or more a year. However, this rain is not uniform in time or geography. Most of the rains occur during its monsoon seasons (June to September), with the northeast and north receiving far more rains than India's west and south. Other than rains, the melting of snow year round over the Himalayas feeds the northern rivers to varying degrees. The southern rivers, however experience more flow variability over the year. For the Himalayan basin, this leads to flooding in some months and water scarcity in others. Despite extensive river system, safe clean drinking water as well as irrigation water supplies for sustainable agriculture are in shortage across India, in part because it has, as yet, harnessed a small fraction of its available and recoverable surface water resource.[9] India harnessed 761 cubic kilometres (183 cu mi) (20 percent) of its water resources in 2010, part of which came from unsustainable use of groundwater. Of the water it withdrew from its rivers and groundwater wells, India dedicated about 688 cubic kilometres (165 cu mi) to irrigation, 56 cubic kilometres (13 cu mi) to municipal and drinking water applications and 17 cubic kilometres (4.1 cu mi) to industry.[8]

According to 2011 report of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, India's basin wise distribution of catchment area and utilizable surface water resources is presented in the following table:[8]

Basin numberRiver basin unitRegionDraining intoCatchment area
(% of river
irrigated India)
Average
runoff
(km3)
Additional available
surface water
(km3)
1.1Ganges (GBM)North Bangladesh26.5525.02250
1.2Brahmaputra (GBM)Northeast Bangladesh6537.2424
1.3Meghna/Barak (GBM)East Bangladesh1.548.36
2Other Northeast riversNortheast Myanmar,
 Bangladesh
1.131
3SubernarekhaEast-southeastBay of Bengal0.912.37
4Brahmani-BaitaraniEast-southeastBay of Bengal1.628.486.8
5MahanadiCentral-eastBay of Bengal4.466.8818.3
6GodavariCentralBay of Bengal9.7110.5450
7KrishnaCentralBay of Bengal878.1276.3
8PennarSoutheastBay of Bengal1.76.3258
9KaveriSouthBay of Bengal2.521.366.9
10East flowing rivers between Mahanadi and PennarCentral-eastBay of Bengal2.722.5219
12East flowing rivers between Kanyakumari and PennarSoutheastBay of Bengal3.116.4613.1
13West flowing rivers between Tadri and KanyakumariSouthwestArabian Sea1.7113.5316.7
14West flowing rivers between Tapi and TadriSouthwestArabian Sea1.787.4124.3
15TapiCentral-westArabian Sea214.8811.9
16NarmadaCentral-westArabian Sea3.145.6414.5
17MahiNorthwestArabian Sea1.111.0234.5
18SabarmatiNorthwestArabian Sea0.73.813.1
19West flowing rivers between Kutch and SaurashtraNorthwestArabian Sea1015.11.9
20Rajasthan inland basinNorthwest India0Negligible15
21Indus tributariesNorthwest Pakistan1073.3146
Total
(per International Treaty)
1001869.37

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 mouths. The Narmada, Sharavati, Periyar and Tapti are the only long rivers, which flow west and make estuaries.

This chart shows the tributaries and distributaries of major rivers of India. The merging of cells to the right side each time indicates getting supply from a tributary and vice versa. The bottom-most row shows other rivers with no major helping rivers (Saryu is an exception). Flow of the rivers is assumed to be from left to right.
This chart shows the tributaries and distributaries of major rivers of India. The merging of cells to the right side each time indicates getting supply from a tributary and vice versa. The bottom-most row shows other rivers with no major helping rivers (Saryu is an exception). Flow of the rivers is assumed to be from left to right.

See also



References


  1. Sunil Vaidyanathan, Rivers of India, ISBN 978-8189738884, 2012
  2. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-05-14. Retrieved 2015-09-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) page no 361
  3. Gupta, S.P., ed. (1995), The lost Sarasvati and the Indus Civilization, Jodhpur: Kusumanjali Prakashan
  4. Cultural Contours of India: Dr. Satya Prakash Felicitation Volume, Vijai Shankar Śrivastava, 1981. ISBN 0391023586
  5. Sahibi river
  6. Books: Page 41, 42, 43, 44, 47 (b) Sahibi Nadi (River), River Pollution, By A.k.jain
  7. Minerals and Metals in Ancient India: Archaeological evidence, Arun Kumar Biswas, Sulekha Biswas, University of Michigan. 1996. ISBN 812460049X.
  8. FAO, India - Rivers Catchment, Aquastat, United Nations (2011)
  9. K.L. Rao, India's Water Wealth, ISBN 978-8125007043, 1979



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