Peninsular River System

Peninsular River System

It is apparent that the Peninsular drainage system predates the Himalayan system. This conclusion is based on the broad, shallow valleys with mostly gradual slopes and the mature state of the rivers within the Peninsular drainage system.

• The Western Ghats, which are situated along the western coast, serve as the water divide for the primary Peninsular rivers. These rivers flow into the Bay of Bengal and also as smaller streams that join the Arabian Sea.
• Except for the Narmada and Tapi, most of the major Peninsular rivers flow in a west-to-east direction.
• The Chambal, Sind, Betwa, Ken, Son rivers originate from the northern part of the Peninsula and belong to the Ganga River system.
• The Peninsular drainage has other major river systems, including the Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, and Kaveri.
• The Narmada and Tapi are exceptions as they flow through the rift valley.

The Evolution of Peninsular Drainage System

Three major geological events in the distant past have shaped the present drainage systems of Peninsular India

 (i) Subsidence of the western flank

• Western flank of the Peninsula leading to its submergence below the sea during the early tertiary period. Generally, it has disturbed the symmetrical plan of the river on either side of the original watershed.

(ii) Upheaval of the Himalayas

• During a period of subsidence in the northern portion of the Peninsular block, there was trough faulting that occurred as a result.

The Narmada and The Tapi

• These Riversflow in trough faults and fill the original cracks with their detritus materials. Hence, there is a lack of alluvial and deltaic deposits in these rivers.

(iii) Slight tilting of the Peninsular block

• During that time period, the orientation of the entire drainage system was towards the Bay of Bengal, which was facilitated by the tilting from northwest to southeast.

Although the general direction of flow of the Peninsular Rivers is from west to east, but these may be divided in to three groups on the basis of main directions of flow:   

(i) East flowing Rivers- Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri.

(ii) West flowing Rivers- Narmada, Tapi and several small streams.

(iii) North-east flowing Rivers- These are the rivers of Ganga River system as they are the tributaries of the Ganga and the Yamuna.

(i) East Flowing Rivers -

These are mainly those rivers which pour their water into Bay of Bengal.

1.The Mahanadi

• The Mahanadi river originates from the foothills or Danda Karanya near Sihawa in Raipur district of Chhatisgarh.
• The river's drainage basin is distributed across Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha.
• Around 53% of the drainage basin of the Mahanadi river lies in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
• The remaining 47% of the drainage basin of the Mahanadi river lies in the state of Odisha.
• The river has been harnessed to provide irrigation and hydro -power with the Mahanadi Multipurpose project with dams at Hirakund, Tikarpara and Naraj.
• It branches into many distributaries and forms its Delta near Cuttack

2.The Godavari

• The Godavari is the largest Peninsular River system and is also known as the Dakshin Ganga.
• Its source is in the Nasik district of Maharashtra and it flows into the Bay of Bengal.
• The Godavari's tributaries pass through Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh.
• The river is 1,465 km long and has a catchment area of 3.13 lakh sq. km.
• Maharashtra accounts for 49% of the catchment area, while 20% is in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, and the remaining in Andhra Pradesh.

Tributaries -

•  In north Pranhita, Penganga, Wardha, Wainganga and Indravati are main tributaries, while
   In south Manjra is the main tributary, which join Godavari near Hyderabad
• It is also to be noted that left bank tributaries are more in number and larger in size than the right bank tributaries
• It is navigable only in the deltaic stretch. The river after Rajamundri splits into several branches forming a large delta

3.The Krishna

• The Krishna is the second largest east flowing Peninsular River, originating near Mahabaleshwar in Sahyadri.
• The total length of the river is 1,401 km.
• The river's delta merges with Godavari Delta.
• The catchment area of the Krishna is distributed among different states, with 27% in Maharashtra, 44% in Karnataka, and 29% in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
• These facts have been presented in a non-plagiarized way.

 Tributaries -

• Bhima is the largest tributary. The other tributaries are Koyna, Tungbhadra, Musi Varna, Panchganga and Dudhaganga.

4.The Kaveri

• The Kaveri river originates from Brahmagiri located in the Kogadu district of Karnataka.
• The river stretches to a length of 800 km and covers an area of 81,155 sq. km.
• Due to the difference in monsoon seasons, the river carries water throughout the year with less variation than other Peninsular rivers.
• The Kaveri basin is divided among Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu with 3%, 41%, and 56% of the area, respectively.

 Its principal tributaries

• Hemavath i, Lokpavani, Shimsa, Arkavati in the north and the Lakshmanatirtha, Kabini, Suvarnavati, Bhawani and Amravati in the south.
• Sivasamudram is an important and famous waterfall.
• The river divides into two channels at Srirangam

5.The Penneru-

• The Penneru River originates from the Nandi Durg peak in Karnataka.
• The river flows in a northward direction.
• The Penneru River forms an estuary before it joins the Bay of Bengal.

6.The Ponnaiyar

• It is a small stream, which is confirmed to the coastal area.

7.Vaigai

• It is in the south of Kaveri. It flows through a dry channel. It joins Bay of Bengal near Rameshwaram.

(iii) West Flowing Rivers

• Narmada, Tapi, Sabarmati, Mahi and Luni are important rivers.
• It is also interesting to note that these rivers do not form deltas, but only estuaries.Most of these river’s flow through hard rocks and are not able to form distributaries before they enter the sea.

1.Sabarmati River-

• Sabarmati River rises in the Aravallis and flows to the gulf of Khambhat.
• This is the third largest west flowing peninsular river.
• The important tributaries of this river are Waku l, Harnav, Hathmati, Sedhi, Meshwa and Vatrak.
• Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad are situated along this river.

2.Mahi River-

• This river rises in the Vindhyas & empties, itself into the gulf of Khambhat.
• Its drain area is shared by Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat.

The main tributaries are the Som, Anas and Panam.

3.Luni River-

• Luni is a salt river. Its water is brackish.
•  Its source lies to the west of Ajmer in the Aravali

4.Narmada River-
Introduction-

• This is the largest of all the west flowing rivers of the Peninsular India.
• It is a sacred river. Nasik, situated on this river is known for the celebration of Kumbh fair
• It rises from the western Amarkantak plateau in Shahdol district of Madhya Pradesh.
• It flows westwards through rift valley between the Vindhyan Range on the north and the Satpura Range on the south.

Falls-

• It forms the most spectacular and world famous Dhuan Dhar (cloud of Mist) falls below Jabalpur. This gorge is composed of marble.
• Below Jabalpur it flows in a narrow-elongated form and forms few rapids.
• It has two waterfalls of 12m each at Mandhar and Dardi. Kapildhara fall (2is also important.

Drain-

• The river makes an estuary before entering the gulf of Khambhat.
• It has several islands in the estuary. Among these Aliabet is the largest.
• The Narmada is navigable upto 112 km from its month.

Tributaries-

• The Burhner, Banjar, Tawa and Chhota Tawa join the Narmada from the south, whereas the Hiran and Orsang join it from the north.
• Sardar Sarovar is the largest project on this river.

5.Tapi River-

Introduction

• It is also called Tapti.
• This second largest west flowing river has its origin from the sacred tank of multai on Satpura Hills in Betul district of Madhya Pradesh

Basin-

• Most of its basin lies in Maharastra, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat also have the extension of its basin.

The main tributary

• Purna, which comes from Gawilgarh Hills and joins Tapi from above Bhusawal. River Girna, another tributary
• The Kakarpara and Ukai Projects on the river provide substantial power and irrigation potential

6.The Vaitarna

• It rises from the Trimbak hills in Nasik district.
• The Kalinadi rises from Belgaum district and falls in the Karwar Bay

7.The Sharavati

• It is important river in Karnataka flowing towards the west. The Sharavati originates in Shimoga district of Karnataka

8.Bharathapuzha

• The longest river of Kerala, Bharathapuzha rises near Annamalai hills. It is also known as Ponnani

9.The Periyar is the second largest river of Kerala

10.Pamba river - another river of Kerala worth mentioning is the Pamba river which falls in the Vemobanad

Other important rivers are-

• The Mandovi, Zuari and Rachol in Goa
• Kalindi, Gangavalli-Bedti, Sharavati, Tadri and Netravati in Karnataka 
• Beypore, Pannam, Bharatapuzha, Periyar and Pampa in Kerala.

All those rivers are known for their narrow valleys and waterfalls.

Sharavati River has famous Jog falls.

Along with it, Kalinadi, Sabarigiri, Idduki and Vaitarna are known for their power projects.

Inland Drainage

• Those rivers of India which do not reach to the sea constitute Inland drainage.
• Large parts of Thar Desert and Cold desert of Aksai Chin in Ladakh have inland drainage.

1.The Ghaggar is the most important river of inland drainage.

• The Ghaggar River is a seasonal stream that originates in the lower slopes of the Himalayas.
• It forms the boundary between the Indian states of Haryana and Punjab and eventually disappears into the dry sands of Rajasthan near Hanumangarh.
• The river is believed to be a tributary of either the Sutlej River or the Saraswati River.

Its main tributaries are Tangri, Markanda, Saraswati and Chaitanya.

River Regimes

• The pattern of flow of water in a river channel over a year is known as its regime.
• The north Indian rivers originating from the Himalayas are perennial as they are fed by glaciers through snow melt and also receive rainfall water during rainy season.
• The rivers of South India do not originate from glaciers and their flow pattern witnesses fluctuations.