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DELHI PUBLIC SCHOOL (JOKA), SOUTH KOLKATA
STUDY MATERIAL GEOGRAPHY CLASS IX
CHAPTER-3 – DRAINAGE OF INDIA PART -1
(PREPARED BY DEBAPRIYA BANIK DAS)
CONCEPT OF DRAINAGE BASIN AND WATER DIVIDE
The term drainage describes the river system of an area.
The area drained by a single river system is called a drainage basin.
An elevated area, such as a mountain or upland, separates two drainage basins. Such an upland is known as water divide.
Example- Ambala is located on the water divide between the Indus and the Ganga river system.
DRAINAGE SYSTEMS IN INDIA
The drainage system of India are mainly controlled by the broad relief features of the subcontinent. Accordingly, the Indian rivers are divided into two major groups
(a) The Himalayan rivers
(b) The Peninsular rivers The Himalayan and Peninsular rivers are different from each other in many ways.
1 Most of the Himalayan rivers are perennial. It means that they have water throughout the year. These rivers receive water from rain as well as from melted snow from the lofty mountains. The two major Himalayan rivers, the Indus and the Brahmaputra originate from the North of the mountain ranges.
DRAINAGE PATTERNS
The streams within a drainage basin form certain patterns, depending on the slope of land, underlying rock structure as well as the climatic condition of the area.
DENDRITIC PATTERN- The dendritic pattern develops where the river channel follows the slope of the terrain. The stream with its tributaries resembles the branches of a tree, thus the name Dendritic.
2 TRELLIS DRAINAGE PATTERN- A river joined by its tributaries, at approximately right angles, develops a Trellis pattern. A trellis drainage pattern develops where hard and soft rocks exist parallel to each other.
RECTANGULAR DRAINAGE PATTERN- A rectangular drainage pattern develops on a
strongly jointed rocky terrain.
THE RADIAL PATTERN- The radial pattern develops when streams flow in different directions from a central peak or dome like structure.
THE HIMALAYAN RIVERS
The major Himalayan rivers are The Indus, The Ganga and The Brahmaputra. A river along with its tributaries may be called a river system.
THE INDUS RIVER SYSTEM
The river Indus rises in Tibet, near Lake Mansarowar. Flowing west, it enters India in Ladakh district of Jammu & Kashmir. The Indus flows through Baltistan and Gilgit and emerges from mountains at Attock.
INDUS RIVER SYSTEM
The Sutlej, the Beas, The Rabi, The Chenab and The Jhelum join together to enter the Indus near Mithankot in Pakistan. Indus flows southwards eventually reaching the Arabian sea, east of Karachi.
3 The Indus plain has a very gentle slope. With a total length of 2900 km, the Indus is one of the longest rivers of the world. A little over a third of the Indus basin is located in India in the states of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and the Punjab and the rest in Pakistan. THE GANGA RIVER SYSTEM The head waters of the Ganga, called the Bhagirathi is fed by the Gangotri Glacier and joined by the Alaknanda at Devaprayag in Uttarakhand. At Haridwar the Ganga emerges from the mountains on the plain. The Ganga is joined by main tributaries from Himalayas, major rivers such as the Yamuna, the Ghaghra, the Gandak and the Koshi.
The main tributaries which come from the Peninsular uplands, are the Chambal, the Betwa and the Som. Enlarged with the waters from its right and left bank tributaries, the Ganga flows eastwards till Farakka in West Bengal. This is the northernmost point of the Ganga delta. The river bifurcates here the Bhagirathi-Hooghly flows southwards through the deltaic plains to the Bay of Bengal. The main stream, flows southwards into Bangladesh and is joined by Brahmaputra. Further downstream it is known as Meghna. The world largest delta formed by the river known as the Sunderban delta.
THE BRAHMAPUTRA RIVER SYSTEM
The Brahmaputra rises in Tibet east of Mansarowar lake very close to the sources of the Indus and the Sutlej. Brahmaputra flows eastwards parallel to the Himalayas. On reaching the Namcha Barwa( 7757 m) it takes a ‘U’ turn and enters India in Arunachal Pradesh through a gorge. It is called Dihang and it is joined by the Dibang the Lohit and many other tributaries to form the Brahmaputra in Assam.
4 Brahmaputra is known as the Tsang Po in Tibet and Jamuna in Bangladesh. Brahmaputra carries a smaller volume of water and less silt as it is a cold and dry area. The Brahmaputra has a braided channel in its entire length in Assam and forms many riverine islands. Every year during the rainy season, the river overflows its banks, causing widespread devastation due to floods in Assam and Bangladesh.
