Indian River Systems

Geography covers a good number of questions making it an important topic to cover in SSC Exams. Around 5-8 questions ask from Geography which surely makes it important for you to study the topic well for upcoming SSC and Other Competitive Exams. Here are Study Notes on  "Short Notes on All the Important Rivers"  which you should not ignore.

Geography covers a good number of questions making it an important topic to cover in SSC Exams. Around 5-8 questions ask from Geography which surely makes it important for you to study the topic well for upcoming SSC and Other Competitive Exams. Here are Study Notes on  "Short Notes on All the Important Rivers"  which you should not ignore.

River

River is the biggest source of water. Rivers provide us water to drink, irrigation, electricity, cook, clean things and easy & cheap transportation.  It is also a source of fresh water that flowing naturally towards an ocean, lake, sea or another river. Rivers flow in channels. The bottom of channel is called the bed and sides of the channel are called the banks. Sometimes a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of water.

Rivers begin at their source in higher ground such as mountains or hills, where rain water or melting snow collects and forms tiny streams. When one stream meets another and they merge together, the smaller steam is known as a tributary. It takes many tributary streams to form a river.

As a river flows, it carries along material or debris, called its load. A river’s load includes rocks, stones and other large particles, which are washed along the river bed.  Finer particles float in the water. A river grows larger as it collects water from more tributaries along its course. The river ends at a mouth. In larger rivers there is often also a wider floodplain shaped by flood waters over-topping the channel. Floodplains may be very wide in relation to the size of the river channel.

List of Important Indian River Systems- Rivers and their Origin

Most of the rivers discharge their waters into the Bay of Bengal. Some of the rivers flow through the western part of the country and merge into the Arabian Sea. The northern parts of the Aravalli range, some parts of Ladakh, and arid regions of the Thar Desert have inland drainage. All major rivers of India originate from one of the three main watersheds-

• The Himalaya and the Karakoram range
• The Chota Nagpur plateau and Vindhya and Satpura range
• The Western Ghats

The important rivers of India are Ganga, Yamuna, Brahmaputra, Indus, Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri, Narmada and Tapti.

List of Major Indian River Systems 

Indian River Systems
River System	Total length	Length in  India
Indus River System	3180  km	1114 km
Brahmaputra River System	2900 km	916 km
Ganga River System	2510 km	2510 km
Yamuna river System	1376 km	1376 km
Narmada River System	1312 km	1312 km
Tapi River System	724 km	724 km
Godavari River System	1465 km	1465 km
Krishna River System	1400 km	1400 km
Cauvery River System	805 km	805 km
Mahanadi River System	851 km	851 km

Important Indian Rivers and Their Details

Ganga: Ganga is the most holy river according to Hindu. It has started from the Gangotri in the Himalayas and poured into the Bay of Bengal by travelling of around 2525 km. It is ranked 3^rd largest river in the world. There are a number of cities had been developed across the banks of Ganga like Pataliputra, Kashi, Allahabad, Varanasi, Kolkata etc. It had also created the World’s largest delta in West Bengal named as Sundarban delta.

Yamuna: Yamuna River had originated from Yamunotri Glacier in the Himalayas, then travels across several states and merged into the Ganga at Triveni, Allahabad. Its total length is 1376 km. Yamuna River’s water contributed nearly 70% of Delhi’s water supply. The Taj Mahal is situated on the banks of Yamuna River.

Brahmaputra: Brahmaputra River is originated from Angsi Glacier, the northen Himalayas in Tibet, then entered into the Arunachal Pradesh to Assam and then merges with the Padma river in Bangladesh. Its length is around 2900 km and plays an important role in the irrigation and transportation. It emptied into the Bay of Bengal.

Indus River: The Indus River is a historically famous in Asia. It originated from the Tibetan Plateau, and then flows through the Ladakh then entered into Pakistan and finally merge into the Arabian Sea after travelling a distance of 3180 km.

Mahanadi River: Mahanadi is a major river in the state of Chhattisgarh and Odisha. Mahanadi’s water is used in the irrigation and drinking purpose, it is also called the ruin of Orissa due its devastating floods over the years but till Hirakud Dam was constructed. Its total length is 858 km.

Godavari: Godavari is the longest river in the southern India and 2^nd largest in India after Ganga. It is originated from Maharashtra and flows through Andhra Pradesh, then merges into the Bay of Bengal after travelling a distance of 1465 km.

Krishna: The 3^rd longest river in India after Ganga and Godavari, Krishna River which is originated from Mahabaleswar in Maharashtra and flows through the state of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and finally merges into the Bay of Bengal by travelling a distance of 1400 km.

Kaveri: The Kaveri River is one of the large rivers in India which is originated from Talakaveri in the Western Ghats of Karnataka and flows through the states of Karnataka & Tamilnadu, finally merges into Bay of Bengal by travelling a distance of 765 km.

Narmada: Narmada River is the 5^th Longest in the Indian sub-continent. It is also called the Life line of Madhya pradesh due to its huge contributions. Narmada River is originated from Narmada Kund, Amarkantak in Madhya Pradesh and merges into the Arabian Sea near Gujarat after travelling a distance of 1312 km.

Tapti: Tapti River is one of the major rivers in Central India. Its total length is around 724 km which flows through the states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra and finally merges into the Gulf of Cambay of Arabian Sea near Gujarat.

Rivers	Origin	Place	Direction	Join
Indus	Kailash	Tibet	North to West	Arabian sea
Ganga	Gangotri	Uttarakhand	North to East	Bay of Bengal
Yamuna	Yamunotri	Uttarakhand	North to East	Bay of Bengal
Narmadha	Amarkantak	Madhya Predesh	Central India to West	Arabian Sea
Krishna	Mahabaleshwar	Maharastra	West to East	Bay of Bengal
Tapti	Betul	Madhya Predesh	Central India to West	Arabian Sea
Cauvery	Koodagu Hills	Karnataka	West to East	Bay of Bengal
Thamirabarani	Agathiyar Hills	Tamilnadu	West to East	Bay of Bengal
Godavari	Nasik hills	Maharastra	West to East	Bay of Bengal
Periyar	Cardomom hills	Kerela	West to East	Bay of Bengal
Mahanadhi	Sihawa Mountain	Chhatisgarh	Central India to East	Bay of Bengal
Brahmaputra	Mansarover (Himalayas)	Tibet	North to East	Bay of Bengal
Vaigai	Periyar Plateau	Tamilnadu	West to East	Bay of Bengal
Chambal	Vindhyas	Madhya Pradesh	Central India to North	Yamuna (Bay of Bengal)
Luni	Pushkar Valley	Rajasthan	Central India to West	Arabian sea
Sabarmati	Aravalli Range	Rajasthan	Central India to West	Arabian sea

 

List of Rivers and Their Tributaries

River	Tributaries
Indus	Jhelum, Chenab, Rabi/Ravi, Beas Sutlej
Jhelum	Kishanganga
Ravi	Budhil, Nai or Dhona, Seul, Ujh
Ganga	Ramganga, Gomti, Ghagghar, Gandak, Kosi, Mahannda, Yamuna, Son, Damodar
Yamuna	Chambal, Sindh, Betwa, Ken, Tons, Sharda
Chambal	Banas, Kali Sindh, Shipra, Parbati, Mej
Brahmaputra/ Dihang/Tsangpo	Dibang, Lohit, Dhansiri, Subansiri, Manas, Tista
Mahanadi	Seonath, Hasdeo, Jonk, Mand, Ib, Ong, Tel
Damodar	Barakar, Konar
Narmada	Kolar, Dudhi, Hiran, Bhukhi, Tawa
Tapti	Purna, Girna, Panzhara, Bori, Aner
Godavari/ Vriddh Ganga	Indravati, Manjira, Bindusara, Sarbari, Penganga, Pranahita
Krishna	Tungabhadra, Ghataprabha, Bhima, Vedavati, Koyna, Warna, Dindi, Musi, Dudhganga
Cauvery/Kaveri/ Dakshin Ganga	Kabini, Hemavathi, Simsha, Arkavathi, Lakshaman Tirtha, Noyyal, Amaravati

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