The Peninsular Drainage System

⇒ The Peninsular drainage system is older than the Himalayan one. This is evident from the broad, largelygraded shallow valleys, and the maturity of the rivers. The Western Ghats running close to the western coast act as the water divide between the major Peninsular rivers, discharging their water in the Bay of Bengal and as small rivulets joining the Arabian Sea.

⇒ Most of the major Peninsular rivers except Narmada and Tapi flow from west to east. The Chambal, the Sind, the Betwa, the Ken, the Son, originating in the northern part of the Peninsula belong to the Ganga river system.

⇒ The other major river systems of the Peninsular drainage are – the Mahanadi, the Godavari, the Krishna and the Kaveri.

⇒ Peninsular rivers are characterised by fixed course, absence of meanders and non-perennial flow of water. The Narmada and the Tapi which flow through the rift valley are, however, exceptions.

⇒ There are a large number of river systems in the Peninsular drainage.

⇒ The Mahanadi rises near Sihawa in Raipur district of Chhattisgarh and runs through Odisha to discharge its water into the Bay of Bengal. It is 851 km long and its catchment area spreads over 1.42 lakh sq. km. Some navigation is carried on in the lower course of this river. 53% of the drainage basin of this river lies in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, while 47% lies in Odisha.

⇒ The Godavari is the largest Peninsular river system. It is also called the Dakshin Ganga. It rises in the Nasik district of Maharashtra and discharges its water into the Bay of Bengal. Its tributaries run through the states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. It is 1,465 km long with a catchment area spreading over 3.13 lakh sq. km 49% of this, lies in Maharashtra, 20% in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, and the rest in Andhra Pradesh.

⇒ The Penganga, the Indravati, the Pranhita, and the Manjra are its principal tributaries.

⇒ The Krishna is the second largest east-flowing Peninsular river which rises near Mahabaleshwar in Sahyadri. Its total length is 1,401 km. The Koyna, the Tungbhadra and the Bhima are its major tributaries. Of the total catchment area of the Krishna, 27% lies in Maharashtra, 44% in Karnataka and 29% in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

⇒ The Kaveri rises in Brahmagiri hills (1,341m) of Kogadu district in Karnataka. Its length is 800 km and it drains an area of 81,155 sq. km.

⇒ About 3% of the Kaveri basin falls in Kerala, 41% in Karnataka and 56 % in Tamil Nadu. Its important tributaries are the Kabini, the Bhavani and the Amravati.

⇒ The Narmada originates on the western flank of the Amarkantak plateau at a height of about 1,057 m. Flowing in a rift valley between the Satpura in the south and the Vindhyan range in the north, it forms a picturesque gorge in marble rocks and Dhuandhar waterfall near Jabalpur.

⇒ After flowing a distance of about 1,312 km, it meets the Arabian sea south of Bharuch, forming a broad 27 km long estuary. Its catchment area is about 98,796 sq. km. The Sardar Sarovar Project has been constructed on this river.

⇒ The Tapi is the other important westward flowing river. It originates from Multai in the Betul district of Madhya Pradesh. It is 724 km long and drains an area of 65,145 sq. km. Nearly 79% of its basin lies in Maharashtra, 15% in Madhya Pradesh and the remaining 6 % in Gujarat.

⇒ Luni is the largest river system of Rajasthan, west of Aravali. It originates near Pushkar in two branches, i.e. the Saraswati and the Sabarmati, which join with each other at Govindgarh. From here, the river comes out of Aravali and is known as Luni. It flows towards the west till Telwara and then takes a southwest direction to join the Rann of Kuchchh. The entire river system is ephemeral.

⇒ The rivers flowing towards the Arabian sea have short courses.

⇒ The Shetruniji is one such river which rises near Dalkahwa in Amreli district. The Bhadra originates near Aniali village in Rajkot district. The Dhadhar rises near Ghantar village in Panchmahal district. Sabarmati and Mahi are the two famous rivers of Gujarat.

⇒ The Vaitarna rises from the Trimbak hills in Nasik district at an elevation of 670 m. The Kalinadi rises from Belgaum district and falls in the Karwar Bay. The source of Bedti river lies in Hubli Dharwar and traverses a course of 161 km. The Sharavati is another important river in Karnataka flowing towards the west. The Sharavati originates in Shimoga district of Karnataka and drains a catchment area of 2,209 sq. km.

⇒ Goa has two important rivers one is Mandovi and the other is Juari.

⇒ Kerala has a narrow coastline. The longest river of Kerala, Bharathapuzha rises near Annamalai hills. It is also known as Ponnani. It drains an area of 5,397 sq. km.

⇒ The Periyar is the second largest river of Kerala. Its catchment area is 5,243 sq. km.

⇒ Another river of Kerala worth mentioning is the Pamba river which falls in the Vemobanad lake after traversing a course of 177 km.

⇒ There are a large number of rivers flowing towards the east along with their tributaries. There are small rivers which join the Bay of Bengal, though small, these are important in their own right. The Subarnrekha, the Baitarni, the Brahmani, the Vamsadhara, the Penner, the Palar and the Vaigai are important rivers.

[Source: ‘India: Physical Environment’ (NCERT-Class XI)]

⇒ India has 4% of water resources of the world, while it has to support 16% of the world population and 15% of livestock.

⇒ India receives mean annual precipitation of about 3,880 Billion Cubic Meter (BCM). The average annual water availability, after evaporation, is assessed at 1,999.20 BCM.

⇒ Due to geological and other factors, the utilisable, water available is limited to 1,122 BCM per annum, comprising of 690 BCM of surface water and 432 BCM of groundwater. Out of this, the water potential utilised is around 699 BCM, comprising 450 BCM of surface water and 249 BCM of groundwater.

⇒ Total requirement of the country for different uses for high demand scenario for the years 2025 and 2050 has been assessed as 843 BCM and 1,180 BCM respectively.

⇒ Water resources of India can be divided into two parts: 1. Surface Water Resources and 2. Underground Water Resources.

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