Indian River Sysytem - Part 3

INDIAN RIVER SYSTEM - PART 3

GANGA SYSTEM :
•    Ganga consists of 2 headstreams Alakananda & Bhagirathi.
•   Yamuna, Ram Ganga, Ghaghara, Kosi, Burhi Gandak, Damodar, Son are its tributaries.
•    Ganga after entering Bangladesh, the main branch of the Ganges is known as the Padma.
•    The Padma is joined by the Jamuna River, the largest distributary of the Brahmaputra.
•    Further downstream, the Padma joins the Meghna River, the second largest distributary of the Brahmaputra, and takes on the Meghna's name as it enters the Meghna Estuary, which empties into the Bay of Bengal.
•    The Ganges Delta, formed mainly by the large, sediment-laden flows of the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers, is the world's largest delta, at about 59,000 km2 (23,000 sq mi).
•    Only the Amazon and Congo rivers have a greater average discharge than the combined flow of the Ganges, the Brahmaputra, and the Surma-Meghna river system.

YAMUNA SYSTEM :
•    Starting catchment area of river lies in Himachal Pradesh, and an important tributary draining the Upper Catchment Area is the Tons, Yamuna's largest and longest tributary.
•    Other tributaries in the region are the Giri, Rishi Ganga, Kunta, Hanuman Ganga and Bata tributaries, which drain the Upper Catchment Area of the vast Yamuna basin.
•    After passing the Sikh pilgrimage town of Paonta Sahib, it reaches Tajewala in Yamuna Nagar district, of Haryana, where a dam built in 1873, is the originating place of two important canals, the Western Yamuna Canal and Eastern Yamuna Canal, which irrigate  the states of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
•    The Yamuna also creates natural state borders between the Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand states, and further down between the state of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

RAMGANGA :
•    The Ramganga River flows to south west from Kumaun Himalaya.
•    It is a tributary of the river Ganges, originates from the high altitude zone of 800m- 900m.
•    Ramganga flows by the Corbett National Park near Ramnagar of Nainital district from where it descends upon the plains.
•    Bareilly and Badaun city of Uttar Pradesh is situated on its banks.

GHAGHRA :
•    Ghaghara is a perennial trans-boundary river originating on the Tibetan Plateau near Lake Mansarovar.
•    It cuts through the Himalayas in Nepal and joins the Sarda River at Brahmaghat in India.
•    Together they form the Ghaghra River, a major left bank tributary of the Ganges.
•    With a length of 507 kilometres it is the largest river in Nepal.
•    It is the largest tributary of the Ganges by volume and the second longest tributary of the Ganges by length after Yamuna.

KOSI
•    The Kosi River drains the southern slopes of the Himalayas in Nepal and is formed by three main streams: the Tamur Koshi originating from Mt. Kanchenjunga in the east, Arun Koshi from Mt. Everest in Tibet, and Sun Koshi from Mt. Gosainthan farther west.
•    From their confluence north of the Chatra Gorge onwards, the Kosi River is also known as Saptakoshi.
•    After flowing through the Chatra Gorge the Sapta Kosi is controlled by the Koshi
•    Barrag before it drains into the Gangetic plain.

SON
•    The Son parallels the Kaimur hills, flowing east-northeast through Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar states to join the Ganges just above Patna.
•    Geologically, the lower valley of the Son is an extension of the Narmada Valley, and the Kaimur Range an extension of the Vindhya Range.
•    Dehri on sone is the major town situated on Son River.

CHAMBAL
•    The Chambal River is a tributary of the Yamuna River in central India, and forms part of the greater Gangetic drainage system.
•    The river forms the boundary between Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh before turning
southeast to join the Yamuna in Uttar Pradesh state.
•    The Chambal and its tributaries drain the Malwa region of northwestern Madhya Pradesh, while its tributary, the Banas, which rises in the Aravalli Range, drains southeastern Rajasthan.

Note :
•    From west to east, Rivers are Ramganga, Gomti, Sarda, Ghaghra, Gandak and Kosi.
•    From west to east, Rivers are Banas, Chambal, Kali Sindh, Parbati, sind, Betwa, Ken & Son.

BRAHAMPUTRA SYSTEM
•    Rises  from    Chema-Yungdung glacier in Tibet
•    Dibang & Lohit from south; Subansiri, Tista & Manas from north.
•    It flows southwest through the Assam Valley as Brahmaputra and south through Bangladesh as the Jamuna (not to be mistaken with Yamuna of India).
•    In the vast Ganges Delta it merges with the Padma, the main distributary of the Ganges, then the Meghna, before emptying into the Bay of Bengal.
•    The average depth of the river is 124 feet (38 m) and maximum depth is 380 feet (120 m).
•    The river is prone to catastrophic flooding in spring when the Himalayan snows melt.
•    It is a classic example of a braided river and is highly susceptible to channel migration and avulsion.
•    This river is often called Tsangpo-Brahmaputra River.