Question

Give an account of the Himalayan rivers of India.

Answer 1

The major Himalayan rivers are the Indus, the Ganga and the Brahmaputra. These rivers are long and are joined by many large and important tributaries.

(i) The Indus River System: The Indus river rises in Tibet, near Lake Mansarowar. Flowing west, it enters India in the Ladakh district of Jammu and Kashmir. Several tributaries like the Zaskar, the Nubra, the Shyok and the Hun= join it in the Kashmir region. The Indus flows through Baltistan and Gilgit and emerges from the mountains at Attock. The Satluj, the Beas, the Ravi, the Chenab and the Jhelum join together to enter the Indus near Mithankot in Pakistan. Beyond this, the Indus flows southwards eventually reaching the Arabian sea, east of Karachi. The total length of this river is 2900 km.

(ii) The Ganga River System: The headwaters of the Ganga, called the Bhagirathi is led by the Gangotri Glacier and joined by the Alaknanda at Devaprayag in Uttarakhand. At Haridwar the Ganga emerges from the mountains on to the plains. The Ganga is joined by many tributaries from the Himalayas. These are the Yamuna, the Ghaghara, the Kosi and the Gandak. The river Yamuna rises from the Yamunotri Glacier in the Himalayas. It flows parallel to the Ganga arid as a right bank tributary, meets the Ganga at Allahabad. The Ghaghara, the Gandak and the Kosi rise in the Nepal Himalayas. The main tributaries that come from the peninsular uplands are the Chambal, the Betwa and the Son. Enlarged with the waters from its right and left bank tributaries the Ganga flows eastwards till Faraldca in West Bengal. This is the northernmost point of the Ganga delta. The river bifurcates here. The Bhagirathi-Hoogly here flows southwards through the deltaic plains to the Bay of Bengal. The length of the Ganga is over 2500 km.

(iii) The Brahmaputra River System: The Brahmaputra rises in Tibet east of Mansarowar lake very close to the sources of the Indus and the Satluj. It is slightly longer than the Indus, and most of its course lies outside India. It flows eastwards parallel to the Himalayas. On reaching the Namcha Barwa, it takes a 'U' turn and enters India in Arunachal Pradesh through a gorge. Here it is called the Dihang and it is joined by the Dibang, the Lohit, and many other tributaries to form Brahmaputra in Assam.