Indian Drainage
Terms
River regime = Seasonal fluctuation in
Drainage = artificial removal of volume of water in river eg. Ganga
surface/subsurface water from area with (seasonal/monsoon regime) & Jhelum
excess water (snowmelt regime)
Drainage basin = area drained by a river Consequent rivers = flow along slope
and its tributaries of topography
Catchment area= river drains the water Subsequent rivers= transverse to
collected from a specific area Master consequent
Watershed = small version of river basin Obsequent rivers = opposite to the
(N. Am); water divide separating two master consequent
basins
Antecedent vs superimposed drainage
Drainage pattern =Geometric
arrangement of streams in region
Tributaries
Confluence
Source
Mouth
Drainage pattern
Dendritic drainage
Tree like branching
Eg. Ganga, Godavari
Trellis pattern
Tributaries at right angle
Found in fold mt region
Eg. Upper Himalayan rivers
Rectangular Drainage
Tributaries make sharpe bends to meet
consequent stream
Found in region that has undergone
faulting
Eg. Vindhyan mt. – Chambal, betwa, Ken
Radial drainage
Outflowing rivers away from center
point
Eg. Amarkantak range– Narmada & Son
Centripetal drainage
streams flow toward a central
depression.
streams feed ephemeral
lakes, which evaporate away during dry
periods
Eg. Loktak lake, Manipur
Inland drainage
Rivers not able to reach oceans
Eg. Luni & Ghaggar
River Basins of India
Classification by KL Rao Minor River basins
Major River basins : < 2000 sq km
Catchment area > 20,000 sq km 8% of total runoff
85% of the total run off of all the 55 minor river basins
rivers in India
14 major basins
Medium
2,000 sq km to 20,000 sq km
7% of total run off
44 medium basins
Drainage systems
Rivers
Himalayan West flowing
Indus Narmada
Brahmaputra Tapi
Ganga Rivers along western ghats
Peninsular
Godavari
Krishna
Cauvery
Mahanadi
Himalayan drainage system
Evolution
Early river Indo-brahma
traversed on longitudinal extent
of Himalayas and discharged
into Gulf of Sind 5-25 mya
Reasons for dismemberment
Pleistocene upheaval of Potwar
plateau
Downthrusting of Malda gap
Water divide of India
INDUS SYSTEM
a.k.a. Sindhu ‘Singi Khamban’
Orig : Bokhar Chu glacier Tibet,
Kailash Range ( 4,164 m )
Flowing in NW direction betw
Ladakh & Zaskar —> cuts across
Ladakh —> forms Gorge near
Gilgit, J&K —> enters Pak in
Dardistan
flows in India only through
the Leh district
receives Panjnad -- J > C > R >
B>S
Jhelum
Orig : Verinag, Pir Panjal
flows through Srinagar & Wular
lake before entering Pak near
Baramulla
Kishanganga joins on Right
Chenab
Largest tribut of Indus
Formed by 2 streams : Chandra
+ Bhaga ( viz join at Tandi near
Keylong, HP )
Chandra originates near Zoji La
and Bhaga at bara lacha la
Proj=>Dulhasti, Baghliar and
Salal (BDS)
Ravi Beas
Source near Rohtang pass in Orig : Rohtang Pass
Himachal Pradesh
Flows through Kullu Valley,
Drains between Pripanjal and forms gorges at Kati & Largi in
Dhauladhar Dhauladhar ranges
Chamba is located on Ravi Enters Punjab plains where it
meets Satluj near Harike
It is entirely within India
Satluj
Orig : Rakas Lake, Mansarovar
in Tibet known as Langchen
Khambab
Enters India through Shipki la
pass
Imp tributary: Spiti
Antecedent river ; feeds Bhakra
Nanagal Project
Neptha-jhakhari dam
Ganga river system
rises in the Gangotri glacier
near Gaumukh (3,900 m) in
Uttarakhand where it is known
as Bhagirathi
Devprayag : Bhagirathi
meets Alaknanda ;
Henceforth known as Ganga
Ganga enters plains at
Haridwar ; Splits much later into
2 distribut : Bhagirathi +
Hugli
Tributaries of Ganga
Left bank Right bank
Ramganga Yamuna
Gomati Son
Ghaghar Hugli
Gandak
Kosi
LBT of Ganga
Ramganga
Originate near Garhwal
enters plains of UP near
Najibabad, joins Ganga near
Kannauj
Gomati
north UP
Lucknow is on Gomati
Both originate within India
LBT of Ganga
Ghaghara
originate from Gurala mandhata
peak (South of Man sarovar) in Tibet
Two headward streams: kali (Sarda)
and Karnali
Ayodhya, Faizabad located on
Ghaghara
R. Sarda :
Orig : Milam glaciers ,
Along Nepal ^H called
Goriganga ; Along Indo-Nepal border
called Kali / KaliGanga where it joins
Ghaghara
LBT Ganga
Gandak
originated near Nepal-Tibet
border
Kali Gandaki and Trishuli imp
tributaries
Merge in Ganga near Patna
LBT Ganga
Kosi
Orig : N of Mt Everest in Tibet
where mainstream Arun rises
Antecedent river
Located in snow covered areas –
heavy rainfall – huge volume of
water
Forms Sapt Kosi after uniting
with river Arun
Right Bank tributaries – Ganga
system
1) Yamuna
Originates from Yamnotri glacier –
Bandarpunch peak –Garhwal
joins Ganga at Prayag (Allahabad)
Delhi, Agra and Mathura on
Yamuna
Its imp right bank tributaries from
Vindhyan range
Right bank Tri : Chambal, Sind,
Betwa & Ken ( orig in Penin
Plat )
Left Bank tribut : Hindan, Rind ,
Sengar, Varuna
yamuna
Chambal
Orig : near Mhow in Malwa Plat
of MP
Flows N through Gorge upwards
of Kota, where Ghandhisagar
dam constructed
Chambal ravines
Banas : arises in Aravalli ; only
tribut of Chambal
RBT of Ganga
2) Son
From Amarkantak plateau
Imp tributaries: Rihand – source
Ramgarh hills
Govind vallabh pant sagar on
Rihand
North Koel – source –Chhota
Nagpur plateau
RBT ganga
3) Hugli
Distributary of Ganga
Tributary: Ajay
Kolkata on river Hugli
Farakka barrage
RBT ganga
4) Damodar River
Eastern Margin of chota Nagpur
plateau and flows through rift
valley
Meets Hugli at the end
Main tributary : Barakar
“Sorrow of Bengal”
Iron and steel industry
Prelims 2010
Q. Rivers that pass through Himachal Pradesh
are::
a) Beas and Chenab
b) Beas and Ravi
c) Chenab, Ravi and Satlej
d) Beas, Chenab, Ravi, Satlej and Yamuna
Flowing SW receives main L
Brahmaputra Bank tributs Dibang & Lohit
In Bangladesh, Tista joins it on
its R Bank —> henceforth
known as Jamuna —> Finally
merges with Ganga —> Hence
Orig : Chemayungdung glaciers called Padma
of Kailash range near
Mansarovar
first major tributary is the
Rango Tsangpo meeting the
Tsangpo near Lhatse Dzong
Comes out of deep gorge in C∆H
near Namcha Barwa —> enters
foothills as Dihang
enters India W of Sadiya town in
AP
Left Bank Tributaries:
Dibang, Lohit, Dhansiri,
Kolong.
Right Bank Tributaries:
Kameng, Manas, Raidak,
Jaldhaka, Teesta, Subansiri
Peninsular Rivers
Evolution of peninsular drainage Features
Subsidence of W flank of Broad, shallow and graded valleys
Peninsula —> submergence below Senile topography showing features
sea (Tertiary Period ) —> of mature drainage
disturbing symmetrical plan of
river on either side of original Eastern drainage- low load carrying
Watershed capacity due to low gradient; big
deltas
Subsidence & conseq Trough Superimposed drainage
Faulting of N flank of Penin —>
Narmada & Tapi flow in trough faults
& fill orig cracks with deritus
materials . Hence lack of Alluvial
& deltaic deposits in N & T
Slight tilting of peninsula from N-E to
S-W
1) West flowing rivers: Narmada –
Tapi
2) East-flowing rivers: Damodar,
Subarnarekha, Mahanadi,
Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri etc
West flowing
1) Narmada:
Source: Amarkantak plateau
Flow in rift valley btwn Vindhyan
and Satpura
MP-MH and GJ
Duandhar falls and Kapildhara
falls in MP
Merged near Bharuch in GJ
Sardar Sarovar dam
Q. Narmada river flows to east to west, while most other large
peninsular rivers flow west to east. Why?
1. It occupies a linear rift valley
2. It flows between vindhyan and Satpura
3. The land slope to west from central India
Choose the correct option
a) 1 only
b) 2 and 3
c) 1 and 3
d) None
West flowing
Luni
Salt river flowing through desert
Also called as sagarmati
Source: Near Ajmer
Dissapears in marshes near upper
ran of kutchh
Sabarmati
Name given to combined streams of
Sabar and Hathmati
Source : Mewar, Aravallis
Mahi
crosses tropic of cancer twice
2) Tapi
Source: Betul plateau
Also called as twin or hand
maiden of Narmada
Flow south of Satpura
Imp tributary: Purna river
Merged into sea near Surat
MP-MH-GJ
West flowing rivers from
Western Ghats
Goa
Mandovi
Zuari
Karnataka
Kalindi
Sharavati
Kerala
Periyaar
Pamba
East flowing
1) Damodar
Source: chhota Nagpur plateau
Tributary: Barakar
Joins hugli south of kolkata
Iron and steel industry
2) Subarnarekha, Baitrani and
Brahmani
Subarnrekha – from Ranchi
plateau
Baitrani- Garhjat hills
Brahmani – headward streams,
South Koel and Sankh from
Chhota Nagpur plateau
3) Mahanadi
Source: Danadkarnya (Sihwa
dist, Chattisgarh)
Left bank: Sheonath, Hasdo and
Mand
Right bank: Tel, Jonk, Ong
Hirakund dam
4) Rushikulya
Source: Nayagarh hills
Mouth known for: hatching site
of Olive ridley turtles
5) Godavari:
Source: Trimbak plt
Also called as dakshin ganga
Left bank tri:
Penganga, Wardha, Wainganga
(combined = Pranhita), Indravati (fall),
Sabari and sileru
Right bank tri:
Manjara
Below Rajhamundry, river devides into
two main streams
Gaumati Godavari (east)
Vashistha Godavari (West)
Polavaram project
6) Krishna:
Source: Mahabaleshwar
2nd Largest E flowing Penin R
tri:
Musi, Sina,Bhima, Ghat prabha,
Malprabha, Tungbhadra
7) Penneru/Penner:
Source: Nandi durg peak in KN
Tri: Kunder, Charavati, Papagni,
Punchu
8) Kaveri:
Source: Tal kaveri at Brahmagiri
hills
Kaveri carries water th.o. year
( Upper CA during SW Monsoon
& Lower CA during NE
Monsoon )
tri:
Shimsa, Hemvati, Kabani,
Bhavani, Noyil, Amaravati
9) Vaigai:
Source: Varushand Hills
Madurai located on Vaigai river
Dry channel
Disappear then again re-appear
River linking project
transfer of water from water Largest inter-basin transfer of
‘surplus’ basins (perennial water in the world if executed
Himalayan rivers) where there is
Project will take 50-100 years
flooding to water ‘deficit’
to complete
basins (rain-fed peninsular
rivers) May produce 35GW of power
First time recommended by Sir
Arthur Cotton in 19th cent
Idea was revised by KL Rao in
1960 (Minister of state for
energy and irrigation)
National River Linking Project
(NRLP)
proposes to connect 14
Himalayan and 16 peninsular Peninsular
rivers with 30 canals and 3,000
1) the Mahanadi and Godavari
reservoirs to form a to feed the Krishna, Pennar,
gigantic South Asian Water Cauvery, and Vaigai rivers
Grid
2) the Ken river to the Betwa,
Two components Parbati, Kalisindh, and
Chambal rivers
Himalayan
3) Linking some west-flowing
1) the Ganga and Brahmaputra rivers to east-flowing rivers
basins to the Mahanadi basin
NRLP is managed by National
2) the Eastern tributaries of the
Water Development Agency
Ganga with the Sabarmati and
Chambal river system (NWDA) under the Ministry of
Jal Shakti
Advantages Issues and challenges
Reduce Hydrological imbalance Impact of climate change-
=> Water from drought prone Himalayas wont have surplus
water for long
to drought surplus
Human cost=> Displacement and
Improve inland navigation rehabilitation of tribals and locals
Benefit irrigation => Achieve Financial cost
food security Impact on ecology and bio-
Hydro power diversity
International challenges - Bhutan,
Water supply-> drinking, Nepal, and Bangladesh affected
industrial use
Political = Inter-state cooperation
Solution
Judicious use of existing water
resources
Effective ground water management
at aquifer level
Virtual water- importing water
intensive crops
National waterways project
Needs only 1/3rd the land needed for
NRLP
2x irrigation potential
75% More power generation than
NRLP
Reduces state disputes– uses only
excess flood water
Ken-Betwa river linking project
project involves transferring of
water from the Ken river to the
Betwa river
Involves construction of
Daudhan dam and a 221-km
canal linking the two rivers
“River linking projects for the country are a great
challenge and at the same time an opportunity to address
the water issues arising out of climate change.” Critically
analyse the statement in the light of recent floods
witnessed across the country.(250 words)
