WHAT IS DRAINAGE IN GEOGRAPHY

 

Drainage.....

sounds like an easy english word with a simple meaning.But that's not the case in geography.In geography, drainage acquires a whole new meaning,

WANNA KNOW ABOUT WHAT DRAINAGE MEANS IN GEOGRAPHY.....

THEN LETS GET STARTED!!!

A drainage system is defined as the river system of an area.

on the basis of area drained, river basins have been classified into 3 categories::-

1)major  2)medium  3)minor

major:- river basin with catchment area of more than 20000 square km.

medium:- river basins having a catchment area from 2000-20000 square km.

minor:- river basin with catchment area of less than 2000 square km.

India has 113 river basins (14 major,44 medium , 55 minor)

the top 5 major river basins in descending order are:-

1)ganga  2)indus  3)godavari  4)krishna  5)brahmaputra

the major himalayan rivers of india are ganga,indus and brahmaputra.

now,lets start first with the indus river system.

here are a few facts about the indus river system.

INDUS(SINDHU) RIVER SYSTEM :-

originates from bokhar chu (glacier) in the tibetan region near mansarovar lake.

western most river system in the subcontinent.

enters india in ladakh.

the indus river falls into arabian sea.

in tibet,the indus river is known as 'singi khamban' or the lion's mouth

indus water treaty was signed in 1960 between india and pakistan according to which, india can only utilize 20 % of indus's water.

the indus river makes it's deepest gorge at gilgit.

its tributaries are chenab,sutlej,beas,jhelum and ravi

these tributaries of indus join together to enter the indus near mithankot in pakistan.

GANGA RIVER SYSTEM :-

it rises in the gangotri glacier near gaumukh in uttarakhand.

in uttarakhand it is known as bhagirathi.

at devprayag,bhagirathi meets alaknanda,hereafter,it is known as ganga.

the alaknanda has its source in the satopanth glacier above badrinath.

mandakini is a major tributary of alaknanda

mandakini is also known as kali ganga.

yamuna joins the ganga in allahabad 

hoogly is a distributary of ganga which flows through kolkata

kosi is called 'sorrow of bihar' while damodar is called 'sorrow of bengal' as these cause floods in their respective regions.

BRAHMAPUTRA RIVER SYSTEM:-

it rises in tibet,east of the mansarovar lake.

it is volume wise the largest river of india while length wise, ganga is the largest river 

it flows eastwards parallel to the himalayas.

on reaching 'namcha barwa' it takes a U turn and enters india in arunanchal pradesh through a gorge.

brahmaputra river forms the largest number of riverine islands in the world.

it is known as tsang po in tibet, dihang or siang in arunanchal pradesh,brahmaputra in assam, and jamuna in bangladesh.

That is all for the major himalayan rivers of india.

by the way, here is an important fact for you:-

east flowing rivers form deltas.

west flowing rivers form estuaries.

examples of east flowing rivers:-

mahanadi,krishna,kaveri,godavari,etc.

examples of west flowing rivers:- narmada,tapi,sabarmati,mahi,luni,etc.

NOW,LETS GET STARTED WITH THE PENINSULAR RIVERS.

MAHANADI :- 

mahanadi is the most important river of chhattisgarh and odisha.

originates in dandakaranya plateau near raipur.

drainage basin is shared by maharastra,karnataka and andhra pradesh

The hirakud dam is built across this river.

GODAVARI:-

largest river of peninsular india.

originates from Trimbak plateau near Nasik in Maharastra.

also known as Dakshin ganga.

KRISHNA :-

originates near Mahabaleshwar in the vertical faces of western ghats.

important tributaries are tungbhadra,ghataprabha,koyna,musi,muneru,malprabha and bhima

KAVERI:-

it is also a sacred river like ganga.

it is also called ganga of south india.

it originates from taal kaveri

it makes the 2nd biggest waterfall in india, known as sivasamudram.

important tributaries are herangi,hemavati,lokpavni,shimsa,arkavati,kabani,bhavani and amravati.

That's all for now for the east flowing rivers.

Now ,lets learn something about some of the west flowing rivers.

NARMADA:-

It rises from the plateau of amarkantak of maikal hills in madhya pradesh.

important tributaries are hiran,orsang,barna,kolar,burhnar,tawa and kundi.

TAPI:-

rises in the satpura ranges in the betul district of madhya pradesh.

important tributaries are purna,betul,patki,ganjal,dhatranj,bokad and amravati.

that's all for now for the west flowing rivers.

Now,lets learn about some important facts regarding the rivers in india.

Himalayan rivers are generally much younger than the peninsular rivers.

Himalayan rivers form only deltas while peninsular rivers can form both deltas and estuaries.(e.g. narmada and tapi form estuaries)

Himalayan rivers make sharp meanders and ox bow lakes

peninsular rivers form shallow meanders.

most peninsular rivers originate from Western Ghats and plateau region.

lakes also help in prevention of sudden floods and droughts.

the activities of ganga action plan (GAP) were initiated in 1985 and closed on 31 march,2000.

dal lake is in Kashmir.

Kosi is also known as river of sorrow or India's river of sorrow.

jog falls is in Karnataka.

Shyok is a tributary of indus.

Ganga is known as Padma in Bangladesh.

Godavari is also known as vridha Ganga.

the himalayan rivers flow through V-shaped valleys called gorges.

west flowing rivers do not form deltas because of high gradient and because of the reason that they don't have to travel a large distance to drain into the sea, so they do not get the time or the silt particles to form deltas.

Wular lake is fed by the Jhelum river and was formed as a result of tectonic activities.

THAT'S ALL FOR THIS ARTICLE.

IF YOU ENJOYED READING THIS ARTICLE AND GAINED SOME AMOUNT OF KNOWLEDGE FROM THIS ARTICLE, THEN PLEASE SHARE THE LINK TO THIS ARTICLE WITH EVERYBODY SO THAT YOUR FRIENDS CAN ALSO READ THIS PIECE OF ARTICLE AND GAIN SOME KNOWLEDGE AND HELP OUR WEBSITE TO GROW.

STAY SAFE,STAY HAPPY, 

THANKS FOR READING😃😃😃