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Question

A tributary of the river Ganga arising from the central Indian highlands is ______


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Solution

The river is Kosi or Koshi is the major tributary of the river Ganga from the Central Indian Highlands. The Kosi is a predecessor river with its origin from the north of Mount Everest in Tibet, where it’s mainstream as the river Arun rises. After crossing the Central Himalayas in Nepal, it is accompanied by the Sun Kosi from the West and the Tamur Kosi from the east. It forms Sapt Kosi after uniting with the River Arun.

About River Kosi

  • The Kosi stretches its length around 720 km long and drains an area of about 74,500 km2 in Tibet, Nepal and Bihar.
  • The river gained its name as the sorrow of Bihar due to the annual floods that affect the state most of the times during the rainy season.
  • The flood affects the agricultural land and destroying the rural economy. About 21,000 km2 area gets affected by floods caused by this river.
  • The river is also referred to as sorrow of Bihar

Reasons for calling Koshi river as Sorrow of Bihar

  • The Koshi has an average water flow discharge of about 2,166 cubic metres per second or 76,500 cu ft/s
  • During floods, the flow increases as much as around 18 times the average.
  • The highest recorded flood was 24,200 m3/s or 850,000 cu ft/s on 24 August 1954.
  • The Koshi Barrage is designed for a peak flood of 27,014 m3/s or 954,000 cu ft/s.
  • The Koshi’s alluvial fan has fertile soil and abundant groundwater in a part of the world where agricultural land is in great demand.
  • The Koshi’s alluvial basin fertile soil and abundant groundwater where agricultural land is in great demand and floods destroy all these alluvial basins.

Other tributaries of the river Ganga

The tributaries of river Ganga are classified as Left bank and right bank tributaries. The right bank tributaries of Ganga river are Yamuna, Son, Punpun and Damodar. The Yamuna also called as Jamuna is the longest and second-largest tributary in north India. The left tributaries are Gomti, Ghaghara, Gandaki, and Kosi. The river is considered as the holiest river according to the Hindu customs and tradition. Ganga river is one of the most-visited holy place in the entire India


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