`INDIA RIVER The area drained by a single river system (river + tributaries) is called a drainage basin or river basin. An elevated area, such as a mountain or an upland, separates two drainage basins. Such an upland is known as a water divide relief" refers to the highest and lowest elevation points in an area. eg. mountains, altitude, valleys, types of land and heights of mountains they are the opposite of drainage pattern as it includes water channels while relief does not. A relief map is a type of map, which shows the kind of landscapes or geographical features that are present in a particular place. Some of these geographical features are rivers, mountains, plateaus, lakes, valleys and plains. In geology, a valley or dale is a depression that is longer than it is wide. The terms U-shaped and V-shaped are descriptive terms of geography to characterize the form of valleys. Physiography (physical geography) Perennial River have water throughout the year. MEANDERS-A meander, in general, is a bend in a sinuous watercourse or river. A meander forms when moving water in a stream erodes the outer banks and widens its valley, and the inner part of the river has less energy and deposits silt. OXBOW LAKE is a U-shaped body of water that forms when a wide meander from the main stem of a river is cut of, creating a free-standing body of water. India river perform intensive erosional activity in their upper courses and carry huge loads of silt and sand. DRAINAGE PATTERN- The DENDRITIC PATTERN - develops where the river channel follows the slope of the terrain. The TRELLIS PATTERN- A river joined by its tributaries, at approximately right angles, develops a trellis pattern. A trellis drainage pattern develops where hard and soft rocks exist parallel to each other. A RECTANGULAR PATTERN develops on a strongly jointed rocky terrain. The RADIAL PATTERN develops when streams flow in diferent directions from a central peak or dome like structure. PENINSULAR RIVERS- These rivers flow in the Indian peninsula, which is the area extending from Narmada River to India’s southern tip, are seasonal in flow. WEST FLOWING RIVERS – Narmada river(1057km) – Amarkantak plateau to gulf of Khambat. Tapti river(724km)- originate from Betul Sabarmati river(416 km)- Aravallis in Rajasthan Mahi river(560 km)- Vindhya in m.p. Sabarmati and Mahi are the two famous rivers of Gujarat. Luni river(450 km)- largest river system of Rajasthan, west of Aravallis in Rajasthan to rann of kuchchh, also called salt river. 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. A river alongwith its tributaries may be called a river system. THE INDUS RIVER SYSTEM(2900 km,) Rises in Tibet, near Lake Mansarowar. Flowing west, it enters India in the Ladakh district of Jammu and Kashmir. After flowing in the northwest direction between the Ladakh and Zaskar ranges, it passes through Ladakh and Baltistan. It cuts across the Ladakh range, forming a spectacular gorge near Gilgit in Jammu and Kashmir. It enters into Pakistan near Chillar in the Dardistan region(in Gilgit -balistan) The river flows southward and receives ‘Panjnad’ a little above Mithankot. The Panjnad is the name given to the five rivers of Punjab, namely the Satluj, the Beas, the Ravi, the Chenab and the Jhelum. The Indus flows in India only through the Leh district in Jammu and Kashmir. Jhelum t flows through Srinagar and the Wular lake The Chenab is the largest tributary of the Indus. Ravi is another important tributary of the Indus. It rises west of the Rohtang pass in the Kullu hills of Himachal Pradesh and flows through the Chamba valley of the state. The Beas is another important tributary of the Indus, originating from the Beas Kund near the Rohtang Pass at an elevation of 4,000 m above the mean sea level. The river flows through the Kullu valley The Satluj, the Beas, the Ravi, the Chenab and the Jhelum join together to enter the Indus near Mithankot in Pakistan.. flows southwards eventually reaching the Arabian Sea, east of Karachi. A little over a third of the Indus basin is located in India in the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and the Punjab and the rest is in Pakistan. Indus water treaty (1960)- The partition of British India created a conflict over the plentiful waters of the Indus basin. Geography of partition was such that the source rivers of the Indus basin were in India. Pakistan felt its livelihood threatened by the prospect of Indian control over the tributaries that fed water into the Pakistani portion of the basin. In 1947, when Punjab was divided between the two countries, many of the canal head-works remained with India On April 1, 1948, India stopped the supply of water to Pakistan from every canal ( ravi and sutlaj in east Punjab ) flowing from India to Pakistan. – During the first years of partition the waters of the Indus were apportioned by the Inter-Dominion Accord of May 4, 1948. This accord required India to release sufficient waters to the Pakistani regions of the basin in return for annual payments from the government of Pakistan. The accord was meant to meet immediate requirements and was followed by negotiations for a more permanent solution. Pakistan approached the World Bank in 1952 to help settle the problem permanently. Negotiations were carried out between the two countries through the offices of the World Bank. It was finally in Ayub Khan’s regime that an agreement was signed between India(Jawahar Lal Nehru) and Pakistan in September 1960 – Pakistan obtained exclusive rights for the three western rivers, namely Indus, Jehlum and Chenab. And India retained rights to the three eastern rivers, namely Ravi, Beas and Sutluj. The treaty also guaranteed ten years of uninterrupted water supply. During this period Pakistan was to build huge dams, financed partly by long-term World Bank loans and compensation money from India. Three multipurpose dams. Warsak, Mangla (Jhelum River near the town of Jhelum) and Tarbela (on the Indus, 50 miles (80 km) northwest of Rawalpindi) were built. According to the regulations of the Indus Water Treaty (1960), India can use only 20 per cent of the total water carried by Indus river system. This water is used for irrigation in the Punjab, Haryana and the southern and western parts of Rajasthan. DOAB is a term used in India and Pakistan for the tract of land lying between two converging, or confluent, rivers. THE GANGA RIVER SYSTEM rises in the Gangotri glacier near Gaumukh (3,900 m) in the Uttarkashi district of Uttaranchal. Here, it is known as the Bhagirathi. At Devprayag, the Bhagirathi meets the Alaknanda(from Satopanth glacier above Badrinath); hereafter, it is known as the Ganga. The Alaknanda consists of the Dhauli and the Vishnu Ganga which meet at Joshimath or Vishnu Prayag. Pindar join alaknanda at Karna Prayag while Mandakini or Kali Ganga meets it at Rudra Prayag. The Ganga enters the plains at Haridwar. From here, it flows first to the south, then to the south-east and east before splitting into two distributaries, namely the Bhagirathi and the Hugli The Son is its major right bank tributary. The important left bank tributaries are the Ramganga, the Gomati, Yamuna, the Ghaghara, the Gandak, the Kosi and the Mahanada. Yamuna largest tributaries of ganga is joined by the Chambal, the Sind, the Betwa and the Ken on its right bank which originates from the Peninsular plateau while the Hindan, the Rind, the Sengar, the Varuna, etc. join it on its left bank The Ghaghara, the Gandak and the Kosi rise in the Nepal Himalaya. They are the rivers, which flood parts of the northern plains every year, causing widespread damage to life and property but enriching the soil for the extensive agricultural lands. Main tributaries, which come from the peninsular uplands, are the Chambal, the Betwa and the Son. Enlarged with the waters from its right and left bank tributaries, the Ganga flows eastwards till Farakka in West Bengal. This is the northernmost point of the Ganga delta. The river bifurcates here; the Bhagirathi-Hooghly (a distributary) flows southwards through the deltaic plains to the Bay of Bengal. The mainstream flows southwards into Bangladesh and is joined by the Brahmaputra. Further downstream, it is known as th Meghna. This mighty river, with waters from the Ganga, and the Brahmaputra, flows into the Bay of Bengal. The delta formed by these rivers is known as the Sunderban delta. THE BRAHMAPUTRA RIVER SYSTEM The Brahmaputra rises Chemayungdung glacier of the Kailash range in Tibet east of Mansarowar lake very close to the sources of the Indus and the Satluj. On reaching the Namcha Barwa (7757 m , just above N-E Arunachal Pradesh), it takes a ‘U’ turn and enters India in west of Sadiya town of Arunachal Pradesh through a gorge. In Bangladesh, the Tista joins it on its right bank from where the river is known as the Yamuna. It finally merges with the river Padma (known as Ganga in India), which falls in the Bay of Bengal. The Brahmaputra is well-known for floods, channel shifting and bank erosion. This is due to the fact that most of its tributaries are large, and bring large quantity of sediments owing to heavy rainfall in its catchment area. BRAIDED CAHNNEL- it has a channel that consists of a network of small channels separated by small and often temporary islands called braid bars.