Geography Quiz: Drainage System in India |2 Feb, 2021

The correct order from east to west is son, ken, Betwa and Sabarmati.

· River son is a tributary of Ganga, while ken and Betwa are tributaries of Yamuna.

· River Sabarmati is a west flowing river in state of Gujarat.

Source: NCERT – XI Indian Physical Environment

Source: ICSE – Total Geography and NCERT – XI Indian Physical Environment

The Peninsular drainage system is older than the Himalayan one. This is evident from the broad, largely-graded shallow valleys, and the maturity of the rivers.

· The Western Ghats running close to the western coast act as the water divide between the major Peninsular Rivers, discharging their water in the Bay of Bengal and as small rivulets joining the Arabian Sea.

· Most of the major Peninsular Rivers except Narmada and Tapi flow from west to east. The Chambal, the Sind, the Betwa, the Ken, the Son, originating in the northern part of the Peninsula belong to the Ganga river system.

· The other major river systems of the peninsular drainage are – the Mahanadi the Godavari, the Krishna and the Kaveri.

· Peninsular rivers are characterised by fixed course, absence of meanders and non-perennial flow of water. The Narmada and the Tapi which flow through the rift valley are, however, exceptions.

Source: NCERT – XI Indian Physical Environment

The River Godavari is an important stream in central India, rising in the Western Ghats Mountain Range.

· The name of the origin is Trimbakeshwar and it is situated in the Nashik District or Subdivision in the state of Maharashtra and runs towards the east over the Deccan terrain through the Maharashtra state. The river is also named as Southern Ganges or Dakshin Ganga.

· The river moves into Andhra Pradesh at Kandhakurthi in Nizamabad district of Andhra Pradesh, moves past the Deccan terrain and subsequently bends to run according to a southeasterly course till it pours into the Bay of Bengal via two mouths.

· An important place of attraction on the riverbanks is Basara in Adilabad District. It houses a popular place of worship for Goddess Saraswati. It is also the second oldest temple for the deity in India.

· The biggest city on the riverbanks of the Godavari is Rajahmundry. In this place, the river has the maximum breadth (about 5 km from Rajahmundry to the other bank at Kovvur.

· The Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project or KLIP is a multi-purpose irrigation project on the Godavari River in Kaleshwaram, Bhoopalpally, Telangana, India.

Source: NCERT – XI Indian Physical Environment and The Hindu

Cauvery basin extends over an area of 87,900 sq. km. which is nearly 2.7% of the total geographical area of the country.

· It is bounded by the Western Ghats on the west, by the Eastern Ghats on the east and south and by the ridges separating it from Krishna basin and Pennar basin on the north.

· The basin lies in the States Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. Physio graphically, the basin can be divided into three parts—the Western Ghats, the Plateau of Mysore and the Delta. The delta area is the most fertile tract in the basin.

· The principal soil types found in the basin are black soils, red soils, lateritic, alluvial soils, forest soils and mixed soils. Red soils occupy large areas in the basin.

· Alluvial soils are found in the delta areas. The cultivable area of the basin is about 5.8 Mha which about 3% of the cultivable area of the country.

Source: NCERT – XI Indian Physical Environment and The Hindu

Mahi River is one of the major west flowing inter-state rivers of India, draining into the Gulf of Khambhat.

· The basin is bounded on the North and the North-West by Aravalli hills, on the East by the ridge separating it from the Chambal Basin, on the South by the Vindhyas and on the West by the Gulf of Khambhat.

· The basin has a maximum width of about 250km. Mahi river originates on the Northern slope of Vindhyas near the village of Sardarpur in the Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh at an elevation of 500m above mean sea Ievel.

· It has a total length of 583 km and it traverses through the states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat. The total drainage area of Mahi is 34,842 sq. km.

· The principal tributaries of the Mahi River are Som, Jakham, Moran, Anas, and the Bhadar. Major projects are Jakham Reservoir, Panam Dam, Mahi Bajaj Sagar Project and Kadana Project.

Source: ICSE – Total Geography and NCERT – XI Indian Physical Environment

The River Yamuna, a major tributary of river Ganges, originates from the Yamunotri glacier near Banderpoonch peaks in the Mussourie range of the lower Himalayas at an elevation of about 6387 meters above mean sea level in district Uttarkashi (Uttarakhand).

In its first 170 km stretch, the tributaries Rishi Ganga Kunta, Hanuman Ganga, Tons and Giri join the main river.

Source: ICSE – Total Geography

The Chambal River, called Charmanvati in ancient times, is the largest of the rivers flowing through and Rajasthan State.

This is a major tributary of Yamuna which is 960 km long. Located in Central India, the river comprises a significant portion of the Greater Gangetic Drainage System.

The Damodar River raises in the Palamau hills of Chota Nagpur at an elevation of about 609.75 m. It flows in a south-easterly direction entering the deltaic plains below Raniganj.

· The tributaries and subtributaries of the Damodar include Konar, Barakar, Haharo, Bokaro, Ghari, Jamunia, Khadia, Guaia and Bhera.

· The biggest tributary of the Damodar River is the Barakar. The source of Barakar is located in the vicinity of Padma in Hazaribagh district. Subsequently, the river runs through Jharkhand prior to joining the Damodar close to Dishergarh in West Bengal.

· The Barakar and the Damodar get the Chota Nagpur flat terrain divided into three parts. The rivers flow through mountainous regions with enormous might, overwhelming anything that comes in their way.

Source: ICSE Total Geography

Source: Central Water Commission