Question

Briefly explain the following : (1) ganga river system, (2) the brahmaputra river system, (3) the indus river system.

Answer 1

The Ganga river system consists of the master river Ganga and a large number of its tributaries. This system drains a very large area comprising the middle part of the Himalayas in the north, the northern part of the Indian Plateau in the south and the Ganga Plain in-between. The total area of the Ganga basin in India is 861,404 sq km which accounts for 26.3 per cent of the geographical area of the country.

The Brahmaputra (meaning the son of Brahma) rises in the great Chemayungdung glacier in the Kailas range of the Himalayas a little south of the Lake Konggyu Tsho at an elevation of about 5,150 m located at 30° 31′ N latitude and 82° 10′ E longitude. This source is about 150 km away from the source of the Indus and only 35 km from the birth place of the Satluj.

The Indus River, also called the Sindhū River or Abāsīn, is a major south-flowing river in South Asia. The total length of the river is 3,180 km (1,980 mi) which makes it one of longest rivers in Asia. Originating in the western part of Tibet in the vicinity of Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar, the river runs a course through Ladakh, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and then flows along the entire length of Punjab to merge into the Arabian Sea near the port city of Karachiin Sindh. It is the longest river of Pakistan.

Answer 2

The Ganga river system is the largest in India having a number of perennial and non-perennial rivers originating in the Himalayas in the north and the Peninsula in the south, respectively. The important tributaries of Gangaare the Ramganga, the Gomati, the Ghaghara, the Gandak, the Kosi and the Mahanada.