World Rivers Day 2022: the three most famous rivers of India

September 25, 2022
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN Topics

World Rivers Day 2022: the three most famous rivers of India

Subject: Geography

Introduction-

Celebrated in every fourth Sunday of September, this year World Rivers Day will be celebrated on September 25.
India is the city of rivers starting with its civilisation from the Indus river flowing through the hills of the Himalayas, each river holds a beautiful story as it flows across the country singing wonderful lullabies of its pride and beauty.
World Rivers Day stems from the 2005 United Nations’ Water for Life Decade initiative.
The campaign was established to promote awareness about how our water resources need to be nurtured.
After this, World Rivers Day was established following a proposal from renowned river advocate, Mark Angelo, who had previously established a similar regional observation.
Since the inaugural World Rivers Day event, the observation has spread to over 100 countries with several million individuals participating in the events.

Indus River	Ganga River	Godavari River
India got her name from Indus. ‘The Indus Valley Civilization was born around this river. It flows in the northwest direction from its source (Glaciers of Kailas Range – Kailash range in Tibet near Lake Manasarovar) till the Nanga Parbhat Range. Its length is about 2,900 km. Its total drainage area is about 1,165,000 square km [more than half of it lies in the semiarid plains of Pakistan]. It is joined by the Dhar River near the Indo-China border. After entering J&K it flows between the Ladakh and the Zaskar Ranges. It flows through the regions of Ladakh, Baltistan and Gilgit. The gradient of the river in J&K is very gentle (about 30 cm per km). Average elevation at which the Indus flows through JK is about 4000 m above sea level. It is joined by the Zaskar River at Leh. Near Skardu, it is joined by the Shyok at an elevation of about 2,700 m. The Gilgit, Gartang, Dras, Shiger, Hunza are the other Himalayan tributaries of the Indus. It crosses the Himalayas (ends its mountainous journey) through a 5181 m deep gorge near Attock, lying north of the Nanga Parbat. It takes a sharp southerly bend here (syntaxial bend). Kabul river from Afghanistan joins Indus near Attock.Thereafter it flows through thePotwar plateau and crosses the Salt Range (South Eastern edge of Potwar Plateau). Some of the important tributaries below Attock include the Kurram, Toch and the Zhob-Gomal. Just above Mithankot, the Indus receives from Panjnad (Panchnad), the accumulated waters of the five eastern tributaries—the Jhelum, the Chenab, the Ravi, the Beas and the Satluj. The river empties into the Arabian Sea south of Karachi after forming a huge delta.	The Ganga is formed from the 6 headstreams and their five confluences. The Alaknanda River meets the Dhauliganga River at Vishnuprayag, the Nandakini River at Nandprayag, the Pindar River to form the Ganga mainstream. The Bhagirathi, considered to be the source stream: rises at the foot of Gangotri Glacier, atGaumukh, at an elevation of 3892m and fanning out into the 350km wide Ganga delta, it finally empties into the Bay of Bengal. From Devapryag the river is called Ganga. Ganga debouches [emerge from a confined space into a wide, open area] from the hills into the plain area at It is joined by the Yamuna at Allahabad. Near Rajmahal Hills it turns to the southeast. At Farraka, it bifurcates into Bhagirathi-Hugli in West Bengal and Padma-Meghna in Bangladesh (it ceases to be known as the Ganga after Farraka). Brahmaputra (or the Jamuna as it is known here) joins Padma-Meghna at Chandpur district of Dhaka (Bangladesh). The total length of the Ganga river from its source to its mouth (measured along the Hugli) is 2,525 km. Haridwar, Kanpur, Soron, Kannauj, Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna, Ghazipur, Bhagalpur, Mirzapur, Ballia, Buxar, Saidpur, and Chunar are the important towns. It has long been considered holy by Hindus and worshipped as the goddess Ganga in Hinduism. Major left bank tributaries include- Ramganga, Garra, Gomati, Ghaghara, Gandak, BurhiGandak, Koshi and Mahananda. Major right bank tributaries include- Yamuna, Tamsa (also called Tons), Karamnasa, Sone, Punpun, Falgu, Kiul, Chandan, Ajoy, Damodar, and Rupnarayan.	The Godavari river is the largest river in Peninsular India. It is known as the Dakshin Ganga or Vridha Ganga (old Ganga) because of its age, size, and length. It is navigable in the delta region. Source of origin of the Godavari river: It rises from a place called Trimbak located in the Western Ghats in Nashik district in the state of Maharashtra. Confluence or mouth of the Godavari river: It drains into the Bay of Bengal before forming a large delta below Rajahmundry. The Godavari basin extends over states of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha in addition to smaller parts in Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, and the Union Territory of Puducherry (Yanam) having a total area of ~ 3 lakh Sq.km. The basin is bounded by Satmala hills, the Ajanta range, and the Mahadeo hills on the north, by the Eastern Ghats on the south and the east, and by the Western Ghats on the west. The total length of Godavari from its origin to outfall into the Bay of Bengal is 1,465 km. Rajahmundry is the largest city on the banks of Godavari. The Sri Ram Sagar project which was constructed on this river (1964-69) serves the irrigation needs of Adilabad, Nizamabad. Karimnagar and Warangal districts. Major cities on the bank of the river– Nashik, Trimbakeshwar, Nanded, Aurangabad, Nagpur, Bhadrachalam, Nizamabad, Rajamundry, Balaghat, Yanam, and Kovvur are the important urban centres on its bank. Major left bank tributaries include– Banganga, Kadva, Shivana, Purna, Kadam, Pranahita, Indravati, Taliperu, Sabari, and Dharna. Major right bank tributaries include– Nasardi, Pravara, Sindphana, Manjira, Manair, and Kinnerasani.