The major rivers of India are playing a key role in the development of our country these rivers are acting as centers for many economical sectors such as agriculture, industries , electricity And transportation the fertile lands and deltas that are required for agriculture are derived from course from of these rivers
Indian Rivers system can be classified into three groups
(1) perennial River system
(2) Rainfed river system
(3) Underground river system
Perennial River system
Perennial rivers have water flow throughout the year due to twin sources from Himalayan Glacier and Rains done of these rivers are originated earlier than Himalayas and some are originated later Himalayas. These rivers are younger compared to Rainfed rivers. Perennial river system mainly comprises of three rivers systems.
(1) Indus river system
(2) Brahmaputra river system
(3) Ganga river system
Indus river system : The Indus river originates at Gartung Chu (or) Bokhar Chu near Manasarovar in Tibet and into Pakistan through Jammu Kashmir of India. It obtains to Arabian sea at Karachi in Pakistan.
The Indus river is called as Singi Kambhan (or) Long Chem kambhan in Tibet and is 2,880 kilometers long. Only 709 kilometers of Indus rivers flows in India. The catchment area of Indus river is spread in 3,21,000 sq km. It is the longest and biggest of all rivers that are draining into Arabian sea. In India it flows only through Jammu Kashmir our country has got the name India on the name of the rivers Indus. The right side tributaries of Indus river are shyok , Gilgit, Garatung, Hunza, Kabul, Gomal etc. The left side tributaries of Indus river are Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, Sutlej.
JHELUM: The earlier name of Jhelum river is `vitasta’. It originates at verinag in pirpanjal ranges. It joins Chenab river at Trimmu.
CHENAB: THE earlier name of Chenab is `Askini’.
It originates at Barauachala in Himachal Pradesh. It was formed due to join of two small rivers namely Chandra and Bhaga
It brings largest amount of water among all the tributaries of Indus river.
RAVI: The older name of Ravi is Parushini. It is also called as Travady river (or) Lahore river. It originates at Rohat gang in Kulu valley. It joins into Chenab river at Rangapur.
BEAS: The older name of Beas river is vipasa. It originates at Beaskund in Kulu valley and flour in kangra valley. This originates and ends in India.
SUTLEJ: The older name of Sutlej river is satudri. It originates near the kakshastal in manasarovar. According to the Indus water treaty made between India and Pakistan on September 19,1960,pakistan uses the water of Indus, Jhelum, Chenab.
Brahmaputra River System: The River Brahmaputra originates at chemayndung glacier near manasarovar in Tibet and flows towards east into China, India. It finally joins with Ganga in Bangladesh and drains into Bay of Bengal. It flows through India about 885 km. It is called as Tsang po in Tibet Dihang in Arunachal Pradesh. Dihang in Assom ,padma in northen Bangladesh and Meghana in southern Bangladesh. It is also called as Red river as it flows on the red lands of Assom. The world`s largest delta Sundarbans is formed due to the join of Brahmaputra and Ganga.
Dhansiri, satasiri, sankosh, manas, Bharoti, Lohit, Ditang, teesta, gangadhar are the tributaries of Brahmaputra river. Teesta river was originated near chitamu lake in Tibet. It has been the tributary of ganga till 1877. Due to an earthquake in 1887 it changed as the tributary of Brahmaputra.
Ganga River System: The river ganga originates at Devaprayag where Alkananda joins with Bhagirathi. It flows through Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh , Bihar and enters into West Bengal and divides into two branches as Padma river and Hugli river. Ganga flows through longest distance of 1450 km in Uttar Pradesh. The total length of ganga is 2525km and in India it is 2415km long. It is the longest river in India and occupies 1/4th part of India`s area.
Ram Ganga, Gomathi, Ghagra, kosi, gandak are the left tributaries of Ganga. Yamuna, Chambal, Betwa, ken, son, Damodar are the right tributaries of Ganga.
GANDAK: It originates in between Mount Everest and Dhaulagiri at nearly 7000m height. It is called as Saligrami in Nepal and Narayani in Bihar. It joins Ganga near Patna
GHAGRA: It is also called as `Karanali’. It originates near gurnamandheeta peak in Nepal and joins Ganga at Dhavra in Bihar. Sarada is its tributary which is also called as `choka’,`Kali’.
DRAINING AND CONSERVATION: 90% of the total water of India mixes in Bay of Bengal and only 10% mixes in Arabian sea 77% of the Indian rivers are draining into Bay of Bengal and 23% of Indian rivers are draining in to Arabian sea 38 rivers of Indian river system are taken under river conservation plan.