Ganga River
The Ganges ( likely known as Ganga or Gonga), is the biggest river in the Indian continent in terms of water outflow. The distance of the Ganga is 2510 km. The river has its fountain(origin) in the Western Himalayan Ranges in the land of Uttarakhand. The followers of the Hindu religion regard the Ganges to be the most sacred of all the rivers in India. The river is deified as the divinity Ganga in the Hindu religion. The river likewise has a meaningful historical worths-a number of colonial or kingly capitals like Kannauj, Patliputra ( current day Patna), Allahabad, Kara, Baharampur, Murshidabad, and Kolkata are positioned on the banks of the Ganges.
The Ganges River Catchment Basin covers an area of 390,000sq miles ( 1,000,000 sq
km) and inventory in one of the utmost populated regions in the world. The average deepness of the Ganges
River is 16 m or 52 feet and the uppermost deepness is 30 m or 100 feet. The river has been declared the
National river of India. The first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, cited a number of
representational clarifications regarding the Ganges on the Indian continent in his famed book, the
Discovery of India
(issued in 1946).
The main stem of the Ganges begins at the city of Devprayag, at the convergence of the Alaknanda, which is the source stream in hydrology on account of its greater distance, and the Bhagirathi, which is accounted the source stream in Hindu mythos.
The Ganges is a lifeline to millions of people who reside in its river basin and
depend on it for their day-to-day requirements. It has been important historically, with numerous former
provincial or imperial centrals such as Pataliputra, Kannauj, Kara, Munger, Kashi, Patna, Hajipur, Delhi,
Bhagalpur, Murshidabad, Baharampur, Kampilya, and Kolkata located on its banks or the banks of branches and
chained waterways. The river is home to about 140 species of fish, 90 kinds of amphibians, and alike
reptiles and mammals, carrying critically endangered species such as the gharial and South Asian river
dolphin. The Ganges is the holiest river to Hindus. It's glorified as the goddess Ganga in
Hinduism.
The Ganges is overhung by severe pollution. This poses a hazard not only to humans but
also to animals. The levels of fecal coliform bacteria from human waste in the river near Varanasi are
further than a hundred times the Indian government's official limit. The Ganga Action Plan, an environmental
initiative to cleanse up the river, has been considered a failure which is variously attributed to
corruption, an absence of will in the government, poor specialized expertise, environmental planning, and an
absence of support from religious rules. Son, Yamuna, Chambal, Mahananda
Tributaries of Ganga
Ganga River System
Ganga river map
The upper side of the river Ganges begins at the convergence of the Bhagirathi and Alaknanda rivers in the city of Devprayag in the Garhwal division of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. The Bhagirathi is accounted to be the origin in Hindu culture and tradition, although the Alaknanda is longer, and thus, hydrologically the source stream. The headstream of the Alakananda is crystallized by snowmelt from mountains such as Nanda Devi, Trisul, and Kamet. The Bhagirathi rises at the base of Gangotri Glacier, at Gomukh, at a rise of 4356 meters (14291 feet) and being mythologically pertained to as residing in the matted locks of Shiva; symbolically Tapovan, which is a meadow of ethereal beauty at the feet of Mount Shivling, just 5 km (3.1 mi) away.
Although numerous small rivers comprise the headstream of the Ganges, the six longest and their five convergences are accounted holy. The six headstreams are the Alaknanda, Dhauliganga, Nandakini, Pindar, Mandakini and Bhagirathi. Their convergences, comprehended as the Panch Prayag, are each along the Alaknanda. They are, in downstream arrangement, Vishnuprayag, where the Dhauliganga joins the Alaknanda; Nandprayag, where the Nandakini joins; Karnaprayag, where the Pindar joins; Rudraprayag, where the Mandakini joins; and finally, Devprayag, where the Bhagirathi joins the Alaknanda to form the Ganges.
After rolling for256.90 km (159.63 mi) through its narrow Himalayan valley, the Ganges emerges from the peaks at Rishikesh, then debouches onto the Gangetic Plain at the pilgrimage city of Haridwar. At Haridwar, a dam diverts some of its waters into the Ganges Canal, which irrigates the Doab area of Uttar Pradesh, whereas the river, whose course has been about southwest until this point, now begins to roll southeast through the grasslands of northern India.
The Ganges river follows a 900
kilometers (560 miles) bending course passing through the towns of Kannauj, Farukhabad, and Kanpur.
Along the way, it's adjoined by the Ramganga, which contributes an average yearly inflow of around
495 m3/ s
( 17,500 cubic feet/ second) to the stream. The Ganges joins the 1,444
kilometers (897 miles) long River Yamuna at the Triveni Sangam at Allahabad, ( currently Prayagraj)
a convergence accounted holy in Hinduism. At their convergence, the Yamuna is larger than the Ganges
contributing about 58.5% of the combined inflow, with an average inflow of 2948 meter cube / s (
104,100 cu ft/ s).
Now flowing east, the
stream meets the 400 km (250 mi) long Tamsa River ( also called Tons), which flows north from the
Kaimur Range and contributes an average inflow of about 187 m3/ s ( 6,600 cu ft/ s). After the
Tamsa, the 625 km (388 mi) long Gomti River joins, streaming south from the Himalayas. The Gomti
contributes an average yearly inflow of about 234 m3/ s ( 8,300 cu ft/ s). Also the 1,156 km (718
mi) long Ghaghara River (Karnali River), also flowing south from the Himalayas of Tibet through
Nepal joins. The Ghaghara (Karnali), with its average periodic inflow of about 2,991 m3/ s (105,600
cu ft/ s), is the largest tributary of the Ganges by discharge. After the Ghaghara convergence, the
Ganges is joined from the south by the 784 km (487 mi) long Son River, which contributes about 1,008
m3/ s ( 35, 600 cu ft/ s). The 814 km (506 mi) long Gandaki River, then the 729 km (453 mi) lengthy
Kosi River, adjoining from the north streaming from Nepal, contributing about 1,654 m3/ s (
58,400 cu ft/ s) and 2,166 m3/ s ( 76,500 cu ft/ s), individually. The Kosi is the third largest
branch of the Ganges by discharge, after Ghaghara (Karnali) and the Yamuna. The Kosi merges into the
Ganges near Kursela in Bihar.
Along the way between
Allahabad and Malda, West Bengal, the Ganges river passes the cities of Chunar, Mirzapur, Varanasi,
Ghazipur, Ara, Patna, Chapra, Hajipur, Mokama, Munger, Sahibganj, Rajmahal, Bhagalpur, Ballia,
Buxar, Simaria, Sultanganj, and Farakka. At Bhagalpur, the river begins to stream south-southeast
and at Farakka, it begins its attrition with the branching away of its earliest distributary, the
408 km (254 mi) long Bhāgirathi-Hooghly, which goes on to become the Hooghly River. exactly before
the borderline with Bangladesh, the Farakka Barrage controls the inflow of Ganges, diverting some of
the water into a feeder canal linked to the Hooghly for the ambition of keeping it relatively
silt-free. The Hooghly River is formed by the convergence of the Bhagirathi River and Ajay River at
Katwa, and Hooghly has a number of tributaries of its own. The largest is the Damodar River, which
is 625 km (388 mi) long, with a drainage basin of 25,820 km2 ( 9,970 sq mi). The Hooghly River
empties into the Bay of Bengal near Sagar Island. Between Malda and the Bay of Bengal, the Hooghly
river passes the cities and towns of Murshidabad, Nabadwip, Kolkata, and Howrah.
After entering Bangladesh, the main tributaries of the Ganges river is known as the Padma. The Padma is joined by the Jamuna River, the largest distributary of the Brahmaputra. Beyond downstream, the Padma joins the Meghna River, the converged inflow of Surma-Meghna River System taking on the Meghna's name as it enters the Meghna Estuary, which empties into the Bay of Bengal. Here it forms the by km (890 by mi) Bengal Fan, the world's largest submarine fan, which only accounts for 10 – 20 of the universal burial of organic carbon.
The Ganges Delta, formed primarily by
the large, deposition-laden overflows of the Ganges and Brahmaputra streams, is the world's largest
delta, at about km2 ( sq mi). It stretches 400 km (250 mi) along the Bay of Bengal.
Only the Amazon and Congo streams have a
greater average discharge than the combined inflow of the Ganges, the Brahmaputra, and the
Surma-Meghna river system. In full flood, only the Amazon is larger.
Hydroelectricity in Ganga
The hydroelectric potential of the Ganga basin has been imposed at 20711 MW. Out of the 142 identified schemes in the basin, schemes with a complete inaugurated capacity of 4987 MW are in operation as of on31.7.2014, and devices with an inaugurated capacity of about 1751 MW are in varying stages of construction. (Source: www.cea.nic.in )
The Ganges: An Overview
Son
The Sone originates near Amarkantak in the Anuppur section(district) of Madhya Pradesh,
exactly east of the headstream of the Narmada River, and flows north-northwest through the
Shahdol section(district) in the Madhya Pradesh region before rotating sharply eastward
where it encounters the southwest-northeast-Kaimur peaks. The Sone parallels the Kaimur
mountains, rolling east-northeast through Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Bihar region to
adjoin the Ganges at just west of Patna. Geologically, the smaller valley of the Son is an
elongation of the Narmada Valley, and the Kaimur Range is an elongation of the Vindhya
Range. Arwal, Daudnagar, Deori, Rohtasgarh, Dehri, Sonbhadra, and Bihta are some of the
significant cities positioned on the Sone River.
The Sone river which is 784
kilometers (487 mi) long, is one of the lengthy Indian rivers. Its chief branches are the
Rihand, Kanhar, and the North Koel. The Son has a steep gradient (35 – 55 cm per km) with
alacritous run-off and ephemeral administrations, becoming a growling river with the
rainfall-waters in the catchment area but rolling quickly into a fordable stream. The Son,
being wide and shallow, leaves disconnected pools of water in the remaining parts of the
year. The channel of the Son is very wide (about 5 km at Dehri) but the floodplain is slim,
only 3 to 5 kilometers (2 to 3 mi) wide. The gathering point with North Koel is the range of
Sone River is 5 to 8 kilometers (3 to 5 mi). In history, the Son has been notorious for
changing course. As it's traceable from several old beds near its east bank, the river
modified its course additional than 5 times. In current times this tendency has been sorted
with the anicut at Dehri, and now more accordingly with the Indrapuri Barrage.
Dams on Son River
The Indrapuri Barrage which is 8 kilometers upstream was constructed and commissioned in the year 1968
The Bansagar dam was constructed in 2008 at Madhyapradesh.
Yamuna
The Yamuna (Hindustani pronounced), also
spelled Jamuna, is the another-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest
tributary in India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a top of 6387 meters ( 20955 ft) on
the southwestern slopes of Bandarpunch mountains of the Lower Himalaya in Uttarakhand, it travels an
entire distance of 1376 kilometers (855 miles) and has a drainage network of 366,223 square
kilometers ( 141,399 sq miles ), 40.2% of all Ganges Basin. It merges with the Ganges at Triveni
Sangam, Allahabad, which is an emplacement of the Kumbh Mela, a Hindu carnival(festival) clutched
every 12 years.
Like the Ganges, the Yamuna is largely glorified in Hinduism and
worshipped as the Devi(goddess) the Yamuna. In Hinduism, she's the daughter of the sun, Surya, and
the sister of Yama, the divinity(god) of death, and accordingly is also known as Yami. According to
popularized legends, bathing in its holy waters frees one from the torments of death.
Dams on Yamuna River
- Asan Barrage
- Dakpathar Barrage
- Gandhi Sagar Dam
- Gokul barrage
- Hathni Kund Barrage
- Ichari Dam
- ITO barrage
- Lakhwar Dam
- Masani barrage
- New Okhla Barrage
- Okhla barrage
- Pathrala barrage
- Rana Pratap Sagar Dam
- Tajewala Barrage
- Wazirabad barrage
CHAMBAL
The Chambal River is a branch of the
Yamuna River in Central and Northern India and therefore forms part of the major Gangetic
drainage network. The river flows north-northeast through Madhya Pradesh, rolling for a moment
through Rajasthan also forming the boundary between Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh before rolling
southeast to join the Yamuna in Uttar Pradesh region.
It's a fabulous river and finds mentioned in ancient Books. The
abiding Chambal originates at Janapav, south of Mhow city, near Manpur, Indore, on the south
slope of the Vindhya Range in Madhya Pradesh. The Chambal and its branches drain the Malwa zone
of northwestern Madhya Pradesh, while its branch, the Banas, which rises in the Aravalli Range,
drains southeastern Rajasthan. It ends a convergence of five rivers, involving the Chambal,
Kwari, Yamuna, Sind, Pahuj, at Pachnada near Bhareh in Uttar Pradesh state, at the borderline of
Bhind and Etawah districts.
The Chambal River
is accounted pollution-free and hosts a stunning riverine faunal assemblage involving 2 species
of crocodilians – the mugger(crocodiles) and the gharial, 8 species of water turtles,
smooth-coated otters, Gangetic river dolphins, skimmers, black-bellied terns, sarus cranes, and
black-necked storks, amongst others.
Dams on Chambal River
- Gandhi Sagar Dam
- Rana Pratap Sagar Dam
- Jawahar Sagar Dam
- Kota Barrage
Mahananda
The Mahananda River is a
transboundary river that flows through the state of Bihar, West Bengal, and Bangladesh.
The Mahananda stream(river) network consists of two
waterways- one is locally grasped as Fulahar river and the another Mahananda. Fulahar originates from
the mountainous zone of the Himalayas in Nepal and traverses through the Indian state of Bihar and
merges with the Ganges in the left opposite to Rajmahal. The Mahananda originates in the Himalayas
Paglajhora Falls on Mahaldiram Hill near Chimli, east of Kurseong in the Darjeeling section at an
elevation of meters ( ft). It flows through Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary and descends to the plain lands
near Siliguri. It touches the Jalpaiguri district.
Karnali
Ghaghara, correspondingly called Karnali
is an imperishable transboundary river arising on the Tibetan Plateau near Lake Manasarovar. The
Karnali cuts through the Himalayas in Nepal and joins the Sharda River at Brahmaghat in India.
Together they make the Ghaghara River, a sizable left bank branch of the Ganges. With a distance
of 507 kilometers (315 miles), it's the longest river in Nepal. The total distance of the
Ghaghara River up to its convergence with the Ganges at Revelganj in Bihar is 1080 kilometers
(670 mi). It's the largest branch of the Ganges by volume and the second-longest branch of the
Ganges by distance after the Yamuna.
Lower Ghaghara is
correspondingly comprehended as the Sarayu river and finds citation in Ramayana. Ayodhya is
placed on its right bank. The Ghaghara was also the location of the battle between Amin Khan
Aitigin and Tughral Tughan Khan.
Gandak
.webp "Gandak River")
The Gandak river, also known by the name Gandaki or the Narayani is one of the major rivers in Nepal and a left bank branch of the Ganges in India. its total area is 46,300 square kilometers. most of it is in Nepal. In the Nepal Himalayas, it is famous for its deep canyon. the basin also contains three peaks over 8,000 meters, they are Dhaulagiri, Manaslu, and Annapurna. Dhaulagiri is the highest peak of the Gandaki basin.
Mahakali
It flows along Nepal's western borderline with India
and has a basin area of km2 ( sq mi). It joins the Ghaghra River, a branch of the Ganges. It
takes the name Kali River from the combination of the two streams at Gunji as it flows through
the mountains. After Brahmadev Mandi near Tanakpur, it enters the Terai plains, where it's
called Sharda River.
It offers potential for hydroelectric energy
production. The river is also proposed as a source for one of the numerous projects in the
Himalayan component of the Indian RiversInter-link system.
Koshi or Kosi
The Kosi or Koshi is a
transboundary river that flows through Tibet, Nepal, and India. It drains the northern
inclinations of the Himalayas in Tibet and the southern slopes in Nepal. From a
significant confluence of branches north of the Chatra Gorge ahead, the Kosi River is
correspondingly known as Saptakoshi (Nepali सप्तकोशी, saptakoshī) for its seven upper
branches. These contain the Tamor River originating from the Kanchenjunga region in the
east and Arun River and Sun Kosi from Tibet. The Sun Koshi's branches from east to west
are Dudh Koshi, Bhote Koshi, Tamakoshi River, Likhu Khola, and Indravati. The Saptakoshi
crosses into northern Bihar, India where it branches into distributaries before joining
the Ganges near Kursela in the Katihar section.
The Kosi River is
720 km (450 mi) long and drains an area of about 74,500 square kilometers( 28, 800 sq
miles) in Tibet, Nepal, and Bihar. In history, several litterateurs proposed that the
river has shifted its course for more than 133 km (83 mi) from east to west during the
past 200 years. But a review of 28 historical maps dating 1760 to 1960 revealed a slight
eastward shift for long life, and that the shifting was random and oscillating in
nature.
Damodar
