The important river basins in India

The important river basins in India

1. The Indus Basin:

(a) The source and the course: The river Indus is one of the three big rivers that drain in the Northern Great Plains. It has its source in the Kailash range that lies to the north of the Manasarovar Lake. The river flows from its source in the northwesterly direction and takes a turn to the south through the Ladakh range. The river enters Pakistan through Kashmir. The river flows across the desert plains of Sindh and finally drains into the Arabian Sea at Karachi.

(b) The Tributaries of Indus: The Jhelum, the Chcnab, the Ravi, the Beas and the Sutlej arc the Eve important tributaries of the river Indus. The Sutlej river has its source in the Manasarovar region, all the other tributaries of the Indus rise in the glaciers of the Himalayas.

2. The Ganga Basin:

(c) The source and the course: The river Ganga is the longest perennial river in India. The river is the longest not only among the perennial rivers but among all the rivers that drain on the Indian soil. The river has its source in a glacier called Gangotri. The river empties itself in the Bay of Bengal in Bangladesh. Most of the Ganga delta lies in Bangladesh.

The Ganga Basin is thickly covered with alluvial sediments. The basin slopes gently from Haryana. The river basin extends for over a length of 2480km and occupies an area of about 3,37000 square kilometres. The basin covers the three northern states, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal.

(d) Tributaries of the Ganga: The Yamuna river is a major tributary of the Ganga. The major rivers the Chambal, the Son, the Betwa and the Ken are the major tributaries of the Ganga, which rise in the Deccan plateau and join the river Ganga on its right bank. The Yamuna, the Ghandak, the Gomati, the Ghaghara and the Kosi are the tributaries that have sources in the Himalayas, join the Ganga on her left bank. The Hooghly river is the largest among the distributaries of the Ganga.

3. The Brahmaputra Basin:

(c) The source and the course: The river Brahmaputra has its source in a glacier south-east of Manasarovar. It then flows through deep gorges and enters into the low lands of Assam. The river joins the lower course of the Ganga and then flows into the Bay of Bengal. The river has very high velocity of water flow and frequently creates floods along its course. The Brahmaputra valley slopes from east to west.