What is Drainage System?

A drainage system is the pattern formed by the streams, rivers, and lakes in a particular drainage basin. A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point or where the waters join another water body, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean.

• The basin can be closed basin or open Basin. In open basin, the water body is hydro-logically toward the sea. The rivers which drain to oceans and seas have open basins.
• In closed drainage basins the water converges to a single point inside the basin, known as a sink, which may be a permanent lake, dry lake, or a point where surface water is lost underground.
• The drainage basin includes both the streams and rivers that convey the water as well as the land surfaces from which water drains into those channels, and is separated from adjacent basins by a drainage divide. The other words used for basin are catchment, catchment area, catchment basin, drainage area, river basin, water basin and watershed.
• The river basins are controlled by the topography of the land such as rock types, gradient, soil type etc. The stream in a basin can be runoff, through flow or underground flow. The topographic barriers make watersheds.
• A watershed would represent all the stream tributaries that flow to some distance along the main stream.
• Almost all of India’s rivers are of open basin as more than 90% of total surface water runoff would go to Bay of Bengal. Rest goes to Arabian Sea.
• There is just a small area inparts of Ladakh, northern parts of the Aravalli range and the arid parts of the Thar Desert, that haveinland drainage.

Drainage Basin of India

• India is traversed by several large rivers. According to the nature of river, geographical location, source and drainage area covered, Indian rivers may be classified into following groups :
• Himalayan rivers
• Peninsular rivers
• Coastal rivers
• Rivers having inland drainage basin.

On the basis of Origin, two broad drainage systems of India are : (I) The Himalayan Rivers (II) The Peninsular Rivers. These rivers show different drainage patterns in different regions

Himalayan Rivers

Entire Himalayan drainage system, one way or another is linked up with three mighty river systems, i.e. Ganga, Indus and Brahamputra.

Region	Drainage pattern
Great Plains	Dendritic
Himalyas and Purvanchal	Trellis
Peninsular	Rectangular
Thar desert	Centripetal

Indus River System

• Indus River originates in Tibet in northern slopes of Mount Kailash near lake Mansarovar.
• Running via Ladakh, it enters into Pakistan through Gilgit-Baltistan and ends in Arabian Sea near Karachi.
• The total length of the river is 3,180 kilometers, making it Pakistan’s longest river and world’s 21st largest river in terms of annual flow.
• The river basin is 11,165,000 square kilometres Several tributaries of Indus River in Pakistan side are Nagar River, Astor River, Balram River, Dras River, Gar River, Ghizar River, Gilgit River, Gumal River Kabul River, Kurram River, Panjnad River, Shigar River, Shyok River, Sohan River, Tanubal River, Zanskar River etc.
• On the eastern side, portion of it does run through Indian territory, as do parts of the courses of its five major tributaries viz. Beas, Chenab, Jhelum, Ravi and Sutlej. These tributaries are the source of the name of the Punjab region.

Beas River

• in the southern slopes of Pir Panjal ranges near Rohtang Pass in Himachal Pradesh.
• It flows south past Manali and through the Kullu Valley before entering the Punjab plains. It meets the Sutlej River near the Harike Wetland south of Amritsar.
• The Sutlej continues into Pakistani Punjab and joins the Chenab River at Uch near Bahawalpur to form the Panjnad River; the latter in turn joins the Indus River at Mithankot.
• So, originating in India and running for 470 kilometers, the river meets Sutlej in Punjab of India. The river is of Historic, known as Arjikuja and Vipasa in ancient times and Hyphasis to ancient Greeks.
• Some of the tributaries of the river Beas are as Parbati which rises in the snowy wastes above Manikaran. It joins the river Beas near Shamshi in the Kulu valley;
• Haria which joins the river Beas near Bhuntar; Sainj which rises in the snows of an off-shoot of the Pir Panjal range that marks the watershed of the Seas and Satluj rivers. It joins the river Beas near Larji;
• Tirthan which rises in the snows of an off-shoot of the Pir Panjal range. It joins the river Beas near Larji.

Jhelum River

• Jhelum rises from northern slopes of Pir Panjal ranges at Verinag spring which girdles the valley of Kashmir. It flows through Srinagar and the Wular Lake before entering Pakistan through a deep narrow gorge.
• The Kishenganga (Neelum) River, the largest tributary of the Jhelum, joins it, at Domel Muzaffarabad. The Jhelum enters the Punjab in the Jhelum District. From there, it flows through the plains of Pakistan’s Punjab, forming the boundary between the Chaj and Sindh Sagar Doabs.
• It ends in a confluence with the Chenab at Trimmu in District Jhang. The Chenab merges with the Sutlej to form the Panjnad River which joins the Indus River at Mithankot. Thus, In India it flows on in Jammu & Kashmir State.
• Jhelum is the largest and most western of the five rivers of Punjab.Chenab is its tributary. It was called Vitasta in Rigveda and Hydaspes by the ancient Greeks. Alexander the Great and his army crossed the Jhelum in BC 326 at the Battle of the Hydaspes River where it is believed that he defeated the Indian king, Porus.
• Verinag is situated at a distance of approximately 80 km from Srinagar. Considered to be the source of the River Jhelum, often termed as the lifeline of the province of Jammu and Kashmir, the beautiful region of Verinag a weekend getaway from Srinagar. The important dams and barrages on Jhelam river are Mangla Dam, Rasul Barrage, Trimmu Barrage.

Its major tributaries are –

• Liddar which originates in the snowy wastes at Chandanwari. It joins the river Jhelum in the central pan of the Kashmir valley;
• Sind River which originates in the southern slopes of the great Himalayan range which hems the Kashmir valley;
• Kishenganga which also originates on the southern slopes of the great Himalayan range.

Chenab River

• Chenab River was called Ashkini in Vedic times. It originates at snow melt from the Bara Lacha Pass in the Himachal Pradesh. The waters flowing south from the pass are known as the Chandra River and those that flow north are called the Bhaga River. Eventually the Bhaga flows around to the south joining the Chandra at the village of Tandi, forming the Chandrbhaga River at Tandi.
• It becomes the Chenab when it joins the Marau River at Bhandera Kot, 12 km from Kishtwar Town in Jammu and Kashmir. It flows in the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir, then Pakistan Province of Punjab and merges with Jhelum River at Trimmu, Ravi River Ahmedpur Sialand Sutlej River near Uch Sharif, Pakistan to form the Panjnad or the ‘Five Rivers’, the fifth being the Beas River which joins the Satluj near Ferozepur, India. The Chenab then joins the Indus at Mithankot, Pakistan.
• The total length of the Chenab is approximately 960 kilometres. The waters of the Chenab are allocated to Pakistan under the terms of the Indus Waters TreatyI.t was known as Acesines to the Ancient Greeks.

Ravi River

The Ravi or Iravati or Purushni of ancient Indiais smallest of Five Punjab Rivers. It originates in Bara Bhangal, District Kangra in Himachal Pradesh and gets hemmed by Dhauladhar range in the south and the Pir Panjal in the north. It originates in Bara Bangahal as a joint stream formed by:

1. The Bhadal. which is fed by glaciers.
2. The Tant Gari, which is also fed by glaciers.
3. The river Ravi flows in more or less westerly direction before it cuts across the Dhauladhar range to enter the plains of Punjab. Its main northern bank tributaries are the snow fed Siul and Baira streams. It follows a north-westerly course, flows through Barabhangal, Bara Bansu and Chamba districts. It flows in rapids in its initial reaches with boulders seen scattered in the bed of the river.
4. The Budhil River, in Himachal Pradesh is a major tributary of the Ravi River. Another major tributary that joins the Ravi River, just below Bharmour, the old capitalmof Chamba, is the Seul River from the northern direction.
5. The valley formed by the river was also exploited for its rich timber trees. However, the valley has large terraces, which are very fertile and known as “the garden of Chamba”. Crops grown here supply grains to the capital region and to Dalhousie town and its surrounding areas. One more major tributary that joins the Ravi River near Bissoli is the Siawa.
6. It entersthe Punjab plain near Madhopur and Pathankot. It then flows along the Indo–Pak border for80 kilometres (50 mi) before entering Pakistan and joining the Chenab River. The total length of the river is about 725 kilometres.
7. Since this river flows at the boundary of India and Pakistan, studies have shown that the river is changing its course towards India due to heavy constructions in its way by Pakistan.

Sutlej River

• Sutlej River was known as Sutudri in ancient India and is longest of the five rivers of Punjab.
• It originates near Lake Rakshastal in Tibet. It flows for a considerable distance before entering Indian Territory near Shipki La. Thereafter, it drains past the trans-Himalayan zone of Spiti.
• The major tributary which joins the river Satluj in this tract is the river Spiti. This tributary rises on the northern slopes of the great Himalayan range which hems the Lahauland Spiti valleys. It drains the latter valley and flows in a eastern and south westerly directionbefore joining the river Satluj. The river Satluj has cut across the great Himalayan rangethrough a deep gorge.
• Just upstream of this gorge, it is joined by the river Baspa which drains the north eastern part
• of Himachal Pradesh. After crossing the great Himalayan range, the river Satluj flows in a more or less S W direction before emerging into the plains near Bhakra.
•  In Pakistan, it watersthe ancient and historical former Bahawalpur state. The region to its south and east is arid,and is known as Cholistan, is a part of Bahawalpur Division.
• The Sutlej is joined by the Beas River in Hari-Ke-Patan, Amritsar, Punjab, India, andcontinues southwest into Pakistan to unite with the Chenab River, forming the Panjnad

River near Bahawalpur.

•  The Panjnad joins the Indus River at Mithankot. Indus then flowsthrough a gorge near Sukkur, flows through the fertile plains region of Sindh, and terminatesin the Arabian Sea near the port city of Karachi in Pakistan.
• The waters of the Sutlej areallocated to India under the Indus Waters Treaty between India and Pakistan, and are mostlydiverted to irrigation canals in India.

Ganges River System

The major river Ganga and its tributaries like Yamuna, Son, and Gandak make the biggest cultivable plains of north and eastern India, known as the Indo-Gangetic plains. The main river, Ganga forms by the joining of the Alaknanda River and Bhagirathi River at Devprayag. The Bhagirathi, which is considered the Ganga’ true source starts from Gomukh.

FIG: Course of Ganga

Alaknanda

Alaknanda rises at the confluence and feet of the Satopanth and Bhagirath Kharakglaciers, on the south-eastern slopes of glacier fields of Chaukhamba. It meets the Bhagirathi river atDevprayag after flowing for approximately 190 km through the Alaknanda valley. After originating, it first meets the Saraswathi River and then flows in front of the Badrinath temple. After this, it meets its tributary and another headstream of Ganga called Dhauliganga. When Alaknanda meetsDhauliganga, it is called Vishnu Prayag.

The two streams now become one and go ahead. Next headstream is Nandakini, which meets Alaknanda at Nandaprayag. From here, the Alaknanda river becomes mighty and now meetsNanda River at Karnaprayag. After Karnaprayag, the Mandakini river meets this stream and it is called Rudraprayag. Finally, the Alaknanda meets Bhagirathi at Devprayag and from here, it is called Ganga.

Further Course of Ganga Till Kanpur

After flowing 250 kilometers, Ganga emerges from the mountains at Rishikesh, and then debouches onto the Gangetic Plain at Haridwar.

Some of the Ganga water at Haridwar is diverted into the Ganga Canal, which irrigates the Doab region of Uttar Pradesh. Till Haridwar, the route of Ganga is little southwest, from here it begins to flow southeast through the plains of northern India. It flows 800 kilometers passing via Kannauj, Farukhabad, and reaches Kanpur. Before Ganga reaches Kanpur, two important rivers join it. One is Kali River and another is Ramganga. Kali River is also known with this name in Nepal but is known as Sharda River in India. It originates at Kalapaani in Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand.

Kali River makes India’s eastern boundary with Nepal at some places and when it reaches the plains of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, it would be called as Sharda.

Next is Ramganga. Please note that there are two Ramganga rivers. One of them starts from Doodhatoli ranges in Pauri Garhwal and another from Namik Glacier of Pithoragarh. The Bareilly of Uttar Pradesh is located on the banks of the first. After Bareilly, it meets Kali River. The Kali river keeps flowing till Bahraich, by then it is known as Saryu River. Saryu River meets Ganga in the Bahraich of Uttar Pradesh.

After Kanpur

Kanpur, Ganga joins the Yamuna at the Triveni Sangam at Allahabad, a holy confluence in Hinduism. At their confluence the Yamuna is larger than the Ganga. After this, several stream such as Tamsa River, Ghaghara river, Gandaki River, Kosi River join it at various places which shall be discussed in this module. Ganga remains one stream flowing southeast till Bhagalpur. From Pakur inJharkhand, Ganga starts dividing into various distributaries. In the Murshidabad District of West

Bengal at the Farakka Barrage, Ganga’s first distributor Bhagirathi-Hooghly gets branched out.

This Bhagirathi-Hooghly river later becomes Hooghly river and then enters the twin cities of Kolkata and Howrah. At Nurpur it enters an old channel of the Ganga and turns south to empty intothe Bay of Bengal.

The Farakka Barrage controls the flow of the Ganga, diverting some of the water into a feeder canallinked to the Hooghly for the purpose of keeping it relatively silt-free. Before the Hooghly river empties into Bay of Bengal, it meets Damodar River. But, the main branch of Ganga has to go a long way still. It enters Bangladesh from India near Chapai Nababganj and now its name is Padma River.

Here Padma meets one of the distributaries of Brahmaputra called Jamuna or Jomuna.

This combined stream meets Meghna river, that is another distributary of Brahmaputra at Chandpur in Bangladesh. The Meghna River finally flows into the Bay of Bengal.

The above discussion makes it clear that various   distributaries of Ganga and Brahmaputra meet along the Bay of Bengal and these make one of the largest delta in the world called Gangaes Delta or Ganges-Brahmaputra delta.

They also create underwater Bengal Fan, which is one of the largest submarine fans on Earth. The fan is about 3000 km long, 1000 km wide with a maximum thickness of 16.5 km. Most of the sediment is supplied by the confluent Ganga and Brahmaputra Rivers through the Ganga Delta in Bangladesh and West Bengal, India, with several other large rivers in Bangladesh and India providing smaller contributions.

Some Important tributaries of Ganga

Son: Son River is largest of southern tributaries of Ganga that originates near Amarkantak in Madhya Pradesh near the source of Narmada River, and flows north-northwest through Madhya Pradesh before turning sharply eastward where it encounters the southwest-northeast-running Kaimur Range.

Ghaghara River: Karnali or Ghaghara originates in glaciers of Mapchachungo on the Tibetan Plateau near Lake Mansarovar, cuts through the Himalayas in Nepal and joins the Sarda River at Brahmaghat in India.

With a length of 507 kilometers it is the largest river in Nepal. The total length of Ghaghara River up to its confluence with the Ganga at Doriganj in Bihar is 1,080 kilometers. It is the largest tributary of the Ganga by volume and the second longest tributary of the Ganga by length after Yamuna.

Gomti River: The Gomti originates from Gomat Taal which formally known as Fulhaar jheel, near Madho Tanda,Pilibhit, India. It extends 900 km through Uttar Pradesh and meets the Ganga River near Saidpur, Kaithi in Ghazipur.

Yamuna River: India’s Yamuna River is largest tributary of Ganga River, while Bangladesh’s Jamuna River is largest distributary channel of the Brahmaputra River. Origin of Yamuna is at Yamunotri Glacier on the south western slopes of Banderpooch peak in the Lower Himalayas in Uttarakhand. From there it travels a total length of 1,376 kilometers before merging with the Ganga at Triveni Sangam or Prayag at Allahabad.

Tributaries of Yamuna

Betwa River

Betwa or Vetravati originates in Vindhya Range just north of Hoshangabad in Madhya Pradesh and flows north-east through Madhya Pradesh and flow through Orchha to Uttar Pradesh. It meets Yamuna at Hamirpur town in Uttar Pradesh.

Sindh River

Sindh River originates on the Malwa Plateau in Vidisha district, and flows north-northeast through the districts of Guna, Ashoknagar, Shivpuri, Datia, Gwalior andBhind in Madhya Pradesh to join the Yamuna River in Etawah district, Uttar Pradesh.

Manikheda Dam has been constructed across the Sindh River in Shivpuri district, Madhya Pradesh.

Hindon River

Hindon River is a rainfed river that originates in the Saharanpur District. It flows betweenGanges and Yamuna rivers and joins Yamuna river just outside Delhi.

Chambal River

Chambal River is one of the most pollution free rivers of India. It’s a 960 Kilometer long river that originates at the Singar Chouri peak in the northern slopes of the Vindhyan mountains, 15 km West-South-West of Mhow in Indore District inMadhya Pradesh.

From there, it flows in a northerly direction in Madhya Pradesh(M.P.) for a length of about346 km and then in a generally north-easterly direction for a length of 225 km through Rajasthan.

It enters U.P. and flows for about 32 km before joining the Yamuna River in Etawah Districtat an elevation of 122 m, to form a part of the greater Gangetic drainage system. Chambal is rained river and its basin is bounded by the Vindhyan mountain ranges and on the northwestby the Aravallis.

Tributaries of Chambal:

Banas River: Banas river is a rainfed river that flows in Rajasthan. Banas means hope offorests. It originates in Khamnor Hills of the Aravalli Range, about 5 km from Kumbhalgarhin Rajsamand and flows northeast through Mewar region of Rajasthan, meets the Chambalnear the village of Rameshwar in Sawai Madhopur District. The cities of Nathdwara, Jahanpur, and Tonk lie on the river.

Kali Sindh River: The Kali Sindh is a river in the Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh, that joins the Chambal River at downstream of Sawai Madhopur in Rajasthan

Parbati River: Parbati River is a river in Madhya Pradesh, India that flows into the ChambalRiver. It is one of the Chambal River’s three main tributaries, along with the Banas River and the Kali Sindh River.

The Brahmputra river sysytem

It is very important drainage system discharging maximum volume of water among the Indian rivers. In the truest sense of the term, Brahmputra is an international river.

Brahmaputra originates on the Angsi Glacier located on the northern side of the Himalayas in Burang County of Tibet as the Yarlung Tsangpo River and flows southern Tibet to break through the Himalayas in great gorges.

Tsangpo enters India after taking a U turn at Namcha Barwa and flows in Arunachal Pradesh and here we call it Dihang River or Siang River. This U turn marks the starting point of the Grand Canyon, known as Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon, which has been confirmed as the largest in the world. It is 496.3 kilometers long, 56.3 kilometers longer than the Colorado Grand Canyon, previously considered the world’s longest. It is 5,382 meters deep, much deeper than the 3,200 meters of Peru’s Colca Canyon, previously known as the world’s deepest canyon. After taking this U -turn, Dihang meets Dibang River and the Lohit River at the head of the Assam

Valley and then flows southwest through the Assam Valley, where it is known as Brahmaputra. InAssam it becomes a wide stream. Then its enters Bangladesh. In Bangladesh, the Brahmaputra is joined by the Teesta River, one of its largest tributaries. Below the Teesta, the Brahmaputra splits into two distributary branches. The western branch, which contains the majority of the river’s flow, continues due south as the Jamuna to merge with the lower Ganges, called the Padma River. The eastern branch is called the lower or old Brahmaputra . It curves southeast to join the Meghna River near Dhaka. The Padma and Meghna converge near Chandpur and flow out into the Bay of Bengal.

Brahmaputra is 3,848 km long, and its drainage area is 712,035 km². The waters of the River Brahmaputra are shared by China, India, and Bangladesh. In the 1990s and 2000s, there was repeated speculation about China building a dam at the Great Bend, with a view to divert the waters to the north of the country. This was denied by the Chinese government, later on.

Important Tributaries of Brahmaputra

Teesta River

Teesta River is lifeline of Sikkim and makes a border between Sikkim and West Bengal before joining the Brahmaputra as a tributary in Bangladesh. The total length of the river is 315 kilometres .

It originates at Tso Lhamo Lake in North Sikkim and is formed by the melting of the Tista Khantse glacier.

Manas River

Manas River flows in India and Bhutan and is the largest river system of Bhutan. Three other river systems of Bhutan are Amo Chu, Wong Chu or Raidak, Mo Chu or Sankosh. It is met by three other major streams before it again debouches into India in western Assam.

 Its river valley is home to Royal Manas National Park in Bhutan and the contiguous Manas Wildlife Sanctuary of India which is a Project Tiger Reserve, an Elephant Reserve and a Biosphere Reserve as well as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Peninsular rivers

Important rivers in the peninsular region are:

East Flowing               :          

(a) Mahanadi  (b) Godavari    (c) Krishna      (d) Cauvery

West Flowing:

(a) Narmada   (b) Tapti          (c) Sabarmati    (d) Luni

East Flowing  

Mahanadi

The Mahanadi rises in Dandkaranya region of Chattisgarh & flows through Orissa to the Bay of Bengal. The drainage basin extending over 141,600 sq. km. is shared by Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Orissa, Bihar and Maharashtra. The total length of the river is 857 Kilometers. The Hirakud dam which is India’s largest Earthen dam is also on Mahanadi river.

Tributaries of Mahanadi

Seonath River: The Seonath River is the longest tributary of Mahanadi. It rises in an undulating region with numerous small groups of hills at Kotgal and flows 383 kilometers to join Mahanadi at its left bank at Khargand.

Tributaries of Seonath

Kharahara, andula, Kharun, Surhi, Agar, Arpa rivers are tributaries of Seonath. The total drainage area of Seonath is 22% of the total drainage area of Mahanadi Basin.

Jonk River: Jonk River originates from the Khariar Hills of Kalahandi district ofOdisha at an elevation of 762 meters. It flows 196 kilometers to join the Mahanadi onints right at Sheorinarayan.

Hasdo River: It rises in the Sarguja district of Chhattisgarh and traverses 333 kilometers tomeet Mahanadi at Mahuadih.Gej River is a principle tributary of Hasdo River.

Mand River: Mand River originates at an elevation of 686 meters in Sarguja district ofOdisha and flows 241 kilometers to meet Mahanadi at Chandarpur.

Ib River :Ib originates in Pandrapat of the Raigarh distriuct of Chhattishgarh and flows 251kilometers to fall into Hirakud Dam. Its a rainfed river.

Ong River: It rises at an elevation of 457 meters on a hill in the northern outskirts of hillslocated on the course of Jonk River and flows 204 kilometers to meet Mahandi at Sonepur.

Tel River: Tel river originates in plain in the Koraput of Odisha. It traverses 296 kilometersto meet Mahanadi at Sonepur.

Hirakud Dam on Mahanadi River

Built across Mahanadi River, about 15 km from Sambalpur in Odisha.Built in 1957, the dam is one of the world’s longest earthen dam. Behind the dam extends a lake, Hirakud Reservoir, 55 km long.

Godavari  

With a length of 1465 Kilometers, Godavari is India’s second largest river that runs within the country and also the longest river in South India. It originates near Trimbak in Nashik District of Maharashtra state and flows east across the Deccan Plateau into the Bay of Bengal near Narasapuram in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh.

The Godavari is sacred river and there are several places of pilgrimage on its banks. Trimbakeshwar and Nasik are major pilgrimage sites where one of the four Sinhastha Kumbh Mela takes place. Every twelve years, Pushkaram, a major bathing festival, is held on the banks of the Godavari. The next Pushkaram festival is scheduled to be held in 2015.

The Coringa mangrove forests in the Godavari delta are the second largest mangrove formation in the country. Part of this has been declared as the Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary, renowned for its reptiles. They also provide an important habitat to a wide variety of fish and crustaceans. These forests also act as barriers against cyclones, tropical storms and tidal waves thus protecting the nearby villages.

Tributaries of Godavari

Indravati River: Indravati River rises in the Eastern Ghats in Kalahandi Orissa, and flows west to join the Godavari, forming the boundary between Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh states at places. The river flows for a length of 535 km with a drainage area of 41,665 sq.km.The Indravati is sometimes known as the “lifeline” of the Bastar District, one of the most green districts in India.

Pranahita River: Pranhita River flows on the border of Gadchiroli district in Maharashtra and Adilabad district in Andhra Pradesh. It forms with the confluence of two rivers called Wardha and Wainganga.The Painganga River joins Vainganga near Aheri. The river then flows up to Sironcha before it empties into the Godavari River,near Sironcha in Maharashtra.

The River course is mainly through the dense forests which are rich in Sagwan (timber).

Krishna   

The 1300 Kilometers long Krishna River or Krishnaveni is one of the longest rivers in Peninsular

India. It is the fourth largest river in India after the Ganga, Godavari and the Narmada. Krishna River rises at Mahabaleswar in district Satara, Maharashtra in the west and meets the Bay of Bengal at Hamasaladeevi in Andhra Pradesh, on the east coast. It flows through Mhraharastra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. The delta of this river is one of the most fertile regions in India and was the home to ancient Satavahana and Ikshvaku Dynasty kings. Vijayawada is the largest city on the River Krishna.

Major Tributaries of Krishna River are as follows:

Left: Bhima, Dindi, Peddavagu, Halia, Musi, Paleru, Munneru

Right: Venna, Koyna, Panchganga, Dudhganga, Ghataprabha, Malaprabha, Tungabhadra

Cauvery (Kaveri)

Kaveri or Cauvery flows in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The river covers a distance of about 765 km

and flows through the state of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. On its journey to the Bay of Bengal, theriver is joined by its tributaries, which include Shimsa, Hemavathi, Honnuhole, Arkavathi, Kapila,

Lakshmana Theertha, Kabini, Lokapavani, Bhavani, Noyil and Amaravathy. Talacauvery (also Talakaveri) located about 5000 ft above sea level is considered the source of the Cauvery.

The river after covering a distance of 765 km merges into the Bay of Bengal through two principal mouths. One of the important distributory is Kollidam , which is is the northern distributary of the Kaveri River as it flows through the delta of Thanjavur. It splits from the main branch of the Kaveri River at the island of Srirangam and flows eastward into the Bay of Bengal.

Tributaries of Cauvery

Amaravathi River: Amaravati River is a tributary of Kaveri River in Coimbatore. It is continuation of the Pambar and Chinnar rivers in Kerala. It begins at Manjampatti Valley between the Annamalai Hills and the Palni Hills in Indira Gandhi Wildlife sanctuary and National Park. It descends in a northerly direction through maravathi Reservoir and Amaravathi Dam at Amaravathinagar. It is joined by the Kallapuram River at the mouth of the Ajanda valley in Udumalaipettai. It joins with the Kaveri at Thirumukkudal, about 10km from Karur.

Arkavati River: It originates in Nandi Hills of Karnataka and joins Cauvery at Kanakapura, called Sangama in Kannada, after flowing through Kolar District and Bangalore Rural district. The river is used by the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board to provide 135 million liters of drinking water per day to the city of Bangalore, or about 20% of all the city’s water. The river drains into the Chikkarayappanahalli Lake near kanivenarayanapura.

West Flowing rivers of India

Narmada

Narmada or Rewa River is the third largest river that completely flows within India after Ganga & Godavari. It forms the traditional boundary between North India and South India. Narmada flows in  a rift valley between the Satpura and Vindhya Ranges. Narmada origins in a small tank called Narmada Kund located on the Amarkantak hill in the Anuppur District of eastern Madhya Pradesh. The river descends from the Amarkantak hill range at the Kapildhara falls over a cliff and meanders in the hills flowing through a tortuous course crossing the rocks and islands up to the ruined palace of Ramnagar The basin covers large areas in the states of Madhya Pradesh (86%), Gujarat (14%) and a comparatively smaller area (2%) in Maharashtra. In the river course of 1,312 km, there are 41 tributaries, out of which 22 are from the Satpuda range and the rest on the right bank are from the Vindhya range.

Mahi River

Mahi rises in Minda Village, in sardarpur district Madhaya Pradesh and, after flowing through the Vagad region of Rajasthan, enters Gujarat and falls into the sea by a wide estuary near Khambhat.

Mahi encircles entire Banswara District in Rajasthan and first dam known as Mahi dam is at right side in Rajasthan. Kadana Dam is on Mahi in Gujarat. It is one of only three major rivers in peninsular India that runs from east to west along with the Tapti River and the Narmada River.

Tapti    

The Tapti, rising in the Betul district of Madhya Pradesh, flows westwards for 724 kms in a trough basin more or less parallel to the Narmada. The basin area of Tapti extends over 65,145 sq. km. in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Sabarmati 

The Sabarmati raises in the Aravali hills & flows south-south-westwards for a distance of 300 kms to the Arabian Sea. The Sabarmati basin extends Rajasthan & Gujarat.

Luni

Source of Luni is Annasagar in Ajmer district of Rajasthan. Most of its course flows through the arid tracts of Rajasthan. It gets lost in Rann of Kutch.

Difference between the Peninsular and Himalayan Rivers

• Catchment Area. These rivers have smaller catchment area as compared to those of the Himalayas. For example, the largest cathment area is that of Godavari which is 313 thousand sq.km. is only one-third of the Ganga and is less than that of the Yamuna, a tributary of the Ganga.
• RiverValleys. Himalyan Rivers are antecedent rivers and hence valleys are deep. On the contrary peninsular rivers are consequent and the strata being hard, the valleys are not very deep.
• DrainageValleys. In Penninsular Rivers the drainage depends upon rainfall. The rivers get flooded during rainy season but become dry during summer and winter season. These rivers are not useful from the point of irrigation. Where as the himalayan are perennial rivers drawing drainage from rainfall as well as glacial valleys.
• The Nature of River Courses in Mountains: In Penninsular rivers the mountains are low and have a rounded shape. The course of rivers is made of hard rocks. Hence the river courses are much tortuous.Where as the Himalayan Rivers having complex river courses, are still eroding the surface.
• Slope: In Penninsular Rivers the slope is low and, therefore, the erosional power is also low, which is reverse in Himalayan Rivers.
• The River Courses in the Plains: The peninsular riverine courses are made of hard rocks. Due to low erosion the production of alluvium soil is very low. River meandering is less tortuous. Usually the riverine courses are more or less straight, which is reverse in Himalayan Rivers and these form oxblow lakes, flood plains.

River	Source	Length	Major tributaries	The sea to which it merges
Mahanadi	Dandkaranya, Chattisgarh	857 km	Left bank- Brahmini, Baitarni, Ib, Hasdo Right Bank- Jonk, Tel, Onk.	Bay of Bengal
Godavari	Western Ghats (Nasik district of Maharashtra)	1465 km	Left Bank- Sewand, Dudna, Purna, Pranhita, Sileru, Penganga, Venganga, Vardha, Indravati. Right Bank- Manjra	Bay of Bengal
Krishna	Western Ghats (a spring to the north of Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra)	1400 km	Bhima, Tungabhadra, Musi, Don, Palleru, Muneru, koyna.	Bay of Bengal
Cauveri	Western Ghats (Brahmagiri hills in Coorg district of Karnataka)	800 km	Kabani, Amaravati	Bay of Bengal
Narmada	Maikala ranges (Chhattisgarh)	1312 km	Hiran, Bajan	Arabian Sea
Tapti	Multai plateau (Betul district of Madhya Pradesh)	724 km	Aanar, Girna	Arabian Sea

 

DRAINAGE SYSTEMS

CASE STUDY OF INDIA

A river is a stream of water which flows in a channel from high ground to low ground and ultimately to a lake or to the sea. Sometimes the rivers dwindle away to nothing or disappear on the land or in a desert and are called ephemeral rivers.Rivers are the main agents of erosion in a fluvial cycle.

Rivers adding or tributing water to the main stream are called Tributaries while the rivers sharing water of the main stream are distributaries. River Water shed or water divide is a highland separating two rivers, river systems or drainage basins. Underground watershed separating two aquifers is called Phreatic Divide tributaries. Network of tributaries, distributaries and the main stream is called a drainage pattern.

Identified drainage patterns[1] are: Dendritic, Rectangular, Trellised, Annular, Radial both Cetrifugal and Centripetal, Parallel, Pinnate and Disappearing-aphemeral drainage pattern. Yamuna is a tributary while Hugli is a distributary of river Ganga. A river with all its tributaries and distributaries spread over catchment area, flood plain and the delta make a drainage basin.

There are five types of stream flows:

Antecedent: streams able to maintain their courses through the intervening orogeny(mountain building) or developing  water divides

Consequent: streams are guided by the slope of the land

Subsequent: streams follow slopes and are aligned to the consequent stream

Resequent: streams are in the state of adjustments to the new changing base levels

Obsequent: streams run opposite to the general dip of the land

The Himalayan mountainous system has spectacular antecedent gorges. River Indus, Sutlej, Kali, Gandak, Teesta, Subansiri and Brahmputra are antecedent rivers of India.

Classification of Drainage Basins on the basis of surface area:

• Large drainage basins ( catchment area above 20000 sq km )
• Drainage basins (2000-20000sq km)
• Small drainage basins (less than 2000 sq km)

India has 113 river basins, 14 are large, 44 medium and 55 minor

Major drainage basins of India

River	Basin area in per cent	River	Basin area in per cent
Ganges	26.2	Narmada	3.0
Yamuna	11.0	Kauveri	2.7
Indus	9.8(in indian parts only)	Tapi	2.0
Godavari	9.5	Penner	1.7
Krishna	7.9	Brahmani	1.2
Brahmputra	7.8(in indian parts only)	Mahi	1.0
Mahanadi	4.3	Sabarmati	0.7

Every river has a body, head(source) and mouth. It starts from the head and ends up in the mouth. Maximum erosion takes place in upper valley while maximum deposition takes place in the lower valley where it debouches into a sea or lake.