The Himalayan Rivers or North Indian Rivers: These rivers take birth in Himalayan Mountains by glaciers and flow’s throughout the year (perennial). There are three main river systems in the Himalayan rivers.
They are the Indus, the Ganga and the Brahmaputra.
1. The Indus river system: The Indus is one of the most important river systems of India. It rises near Mt. Kailash (6714m), has a length of2880km, of which 709 km lies in India. It flows through narrow gorges between Ladakh and Zaskar ranges in the North West direction in Jammu & Kashmir. It is one of the oldest river systems of the world. Major part of its course and catchment area are in Pakistan. The main tributaries are Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutluj.
2. The Ganga: The Ganga is the longest (2500Km) and the largest river system of the country. It is generally called, the ‘National river’ of India. The Ganga has two head streams-the Bhagirathi and the Alakananda. The Bhagirathi takes it is birth in Gangothri and Alakananda rises near Badrinath in Garhwal Himalayas. These two meet at Devaprayag, and continue to flow as the Ganga, after flowing across the Himalayas; the Ganga enters the Great. Plains at haridwar.
From Haridwar it flows towards south an south east up to Mirzapur. It continues to flow’ eastwards in the Gangetic plains of Bihar and West Bengal and enters Bangladesh, where it joins the Brahmaputra and become padma, and finally flow’s into Bay of Bengal. The important tributaries of Ganga are Ramganga, Ghagra, Gandak, Gomati, Bagmati, Kosi, Yamuna, Chambal, Betwa, sone, ken, damodar etc.
3. The Brahmaputra river system: It rises at Manasarovar lake (chanmyandung). In Tibet it is known as Tsangpo. It enters Aruncal Pradesh and is known as Brahmaputra. It joins. Ganga at Golunde (Bangladesh). The total length it flows is 2900km. and only 885km. in India. In Bangladesh it is called Meghana.
