KERALA PSC / INDIAN GEOGRAPHY / THE HIMALAYAN RIVERS / INDUS SYSTEM / GANGA SYSTEM / BRAHMAPUTRA SYSTEM / NOTES / OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS / STUDY MATERIALS / GENERAL KNOWLEDGE

 KERALA PSC / INDIAN GEOGRAPHY / THE HIMALAYAN RIVERS / INDUS SYSTEM / GANGA SYSTEM / BRAHMAPUTRA SYSTEM / NOTES / OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS / STUDY MATERIALS / GENERAL KNOWLEDGE

 KERALA PSC / INDIAN GEOGRAPHY / THE HIMALAYAN RIVERS / INDUS SYSTEM / GANGA SYSTEM / BRAHMAPUTRA SYSTEM / NOTES / OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS / STUDY MATERIALS / GENERAL KNOWLEDGE

THE HIMALAYAN RIVERS

The Himalayan rivers has three principal systems

·      The Indus system

·      The Ganga system

·      The Brahmaputra system

 

INDUS SYSTEM

It is one of the largest river systems in the world. River Indus rises from Kailas Range in the Tibetan Plateau region.

·      The Indus is the Western most of the Himalayan rivers.

·      After flowing through Pakistan, Indus falls into Arabian Sea

·      River Indus is an antecedent river as it is considered as older than the Himalayas.

·      It receives a number of tributaries such as the Shyok, the Gilgit, the Gortang, the Zaskar, the Huza, the Nubra, the Shigar, the Gasting and the Dras. Then there are five well known Punjab tributaries – Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej.

·      Sutlej is the most important amongst the tributaries of Indus

·      River Sutlej rises beyond the Himalayas and has cut a gorge through the Central Himalayan Range. The total length of the Sutlej is about 1050km in India.

·      The Ravi is the smallest river of Punjab and is well-known as the ‘River of Lahore’. It rises near the Rohtang pass in the Kulu hills of Himachal Pradesh. Its total length is 725km.

·      The Chenab is the largest of Indus tributaries. It has a total length of 1800km in India.

·      The Jhelum, an important tributary of the Indus flowing through the state of Jammu and Kashmir (Srinagar Valley is the valley of the Jhelum) rises in a spring at Verinag.

·      The Beas rises at Beas Kund near the Rohtang Pass in Himachal Pradesh.

 

GANGA SYSTEM

It is the largest drainage system of India carrying the run off of about 25 percent of the total land area of the country.

·      The River Ganga is the longest river (2640km) in India. Its source is at Gangotri glacier in the Himalayas.

·      Ganga, the main stream, is constituted by two major head streams, the Alakananda  and Bhagirathi. These two headstreams of the Ganga join at Devprayag.

·      The source of the Alakananda is near the Tibetan border and that of the Bhagirathi near Gangotri.

·      The Ganga is joined by the Yamuna near Allahabad.

·      Yamuna, Gomti, Ghagra, Gandak, Ramganga, Son, Kosi, Chambal, Betwa and Ken are the main tributaries of Ganga.

·      Yamuna rises at the Yamunotri glacier. It flows towards the south upto Agra and farther down towards the south – east direction till it joins the Ganga at Allahabad. Chambal, Sind, Betwa and the Ken are its important tributaries.

·      The Chambal rises near Mhow in the Vindhyan range and joins Yamuna river in the southern part of the Etawah District.

·      The Sind, the Betwa and the Ken flow towards the north and form many ravines in the Ganga plain.

·      The Son originating from Amarkantak plateau joins Ganga near Ramnagar.

·      The Ram Ganga rising in the Kumaon Himalayas runs for 690km before joining Ganga near Kannauj.

·      The Gandok rising near the Nepal-China border enters Bihar in Champaran district and meets Ganga on its left at Sonpur.

·      The Kosi rising from the peaks of Nepal, Tibet and Sikkim ends in the Ganga below Bhagalpur.

·      Ganga flows through Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Bangladesh and finally enters into the Bay of Bengal.

·      Ganga is known by the name ‘Padma’ in Bangladesh.

·      The river has been declared as India’s National River.

·      It has been considered the holiest of all rivers by Hindus.

·      The Ganges Basin drains 1,000,000-square-kilometer (390,000 sq mi) and supports one of the world’s highest density of humans.

 

BRAHMAPUTRA SYSTEM

Brahmaputra is the third major antecedent river of India flowing from the Himalayan region towards the northern plains.

·      The 2688km Brahmaputra is longer than the Ganges, but only one third of the river passes through India

·      Brahmaputra originates from the Manasarovar lake in Western Tibet. It flows for a long distance parallel to the Himalayan ranges in an easterly direction through Tibet. Here, it is known as the Tsangpo.

·      It takes a southward turn and enters India in eastern Arunachal Pradesh under the name Dihang.

·      It gets its name Brahmaputra after the influence of the Luhit, the Dihang and the Dibang.

·      The final stretch of the Brahmaputra lies in Bangladesh. Here it meets the Ganga and the combined stream called Padma and further downstream it is named Meghna.

·      The Ganga and the Brahmaputra join in Bangladesh and form the extensive delta of Sunderbans. It derives the name from the Sundri tree that grows widely in this region.

 KERALA PSC / INDIAN GEOGRAPHY / THE HIMALAYAN RIVERS / INDUS SYSTEM / GANGA SYSTEM / BRAHMAPUTRA SYSTEM / NOTES / OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS / STUDY MATERIALS / GENERAL KNOWLEDGE