Social Science 2 Marks Each

• Narmada river originates near : Amarkantak, flows through a rift valley in Madhya Pradesh and meets the Arabian Sea at about ,1312 km away. The sea water can enter up to a long distance in her wide mouth.
• Narmada
• Basin is restricted to Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.
• Narmada flows though the marble rocks : at Bhedaghat located near Jabalpur. Dhuandhar Falls are formed due to the steep slope of Narmada.
• Narmada has many tributaries, one of which is longer than 200 km. Most of the rivers meet Narmada at right angle.
• Narmada and her tributaries have formed Rectangular drainage pattern.

It has the largest basin among the peninsular rivers.
It starts from the slopes of Western Ghats near Nasik in Maharashtra.
It flows to the east and meets Bay of Bengal.
About 50% of its basin lies in Maharashtra and the rest is in Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.
The length of Godavari is about 1465 km. Many tributaries meet Godavari. Among them Puma, Vardha, Pranhita, Manjara, Vainganga and Penganga are included.
Godavari has a longer flow and large basin. So, it is called as ‘Ganga of South’.

Mahanadi originates in the mountainous areas of Chhattisgarh.
It is about 860 km long.
It flows through Odisha and meets Bay of Bengal.
Its basin is spread in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha.

River Tapi is almost 724 km long.
It originates from Satpura ranges in Betul district of Madhya Pradesh.
It flows in a rift valley, parallel to Narmada, and meets Arabian Sea.
Basin to Tapi lies in Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.

Western Ghats is considered to be the main water divide for peninsular rivers.
Major rivers such as Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri, etc. flow eastwards and meet the Bay of Bengal.
Other smaller rivers which flow eastwards and meet Bay of Bengal include Damodar, Brahmani, Vaitami and Suvamarekha.
Major rivers like Narmada,’Tapi, Sabarmati and Mahi (Mahisagar) flow from east to west and meet Arabian Sea in the west.

Several rivers meet Ganga and form the Ganga River system.
All these rivers contain a very large volume of water. Hence, the northern plain experiences flood almost every year.
These floods cause a heavy loss of lives and property in some areas.
On the other hand, the plain formed by these rivers are extremely fertile.
Due to these rivers India has been able to prosper tremendously in agriculture.

Ambala city works as a water-divide between Ganga and Sindhu rivers.
Ambala to Sunderban is about 1800 km, but it has a very gentle slope.
Ambala is at an altitude of 300 meters from sea level whereas Sunderban is at sea-level.
Considering this, the slope happens to be 6 km per one metre (1800/300 = 6).
Due to this gentle and continuous slope there are many meanders on this river.

A large number of ‘Sundari’ trees grow in the delta region of Ganga. Hence, this region is called Sundarban delta.
It is quite famous for mangrove forests.

The large network of streams, lakes and rivers that are part of a larger river’s network of tributaries and distributaries is together called the river system. There are three main river system in the Himalayan river system. They are:
Sindhu River System
Brahmaputra River System
Brahmaputra River System.

The study of river pattern of a region is known as the drainage system. The natural arrangement of a river and her tributaries is called the drainage pattern. The drainage pattern of Indian rivers can be divided into four parts:

1. Dendritic drainage pattern
2. Trellis drainage pattern
3. Rectangular drainage pattern
4. Centrifugal/Radial pattern.

• (1) Most of the Himalayan rivers originate from snow-covered regions of Himalayas. These regions get very heavy rain during monsoon. So floods occur in these rivers.
• (2) During summer, these rivers get much water due to the melting of the snow over the Himalayan peaks. So these rivers are perennial.

• River Brahmaputra flows through Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. Many small rivers meet her here.
• As these regions get heavy rain these rivers bring enormous amount of water. Because of the addition of this water frequently during the rainy season, devastating floods occur in Brahmaputra.

• River Brahmaputra flows through Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. Many small rivers meet her here.
• As these regions get heavy rain these rivers bring enormous amount of water. Because of the addition of this water frequently during the rainy season, devastating floods occur in Brahmaputra.

• (1) Most of the Himalayan rivers originate from snow-covered regions of Himalayas. These regions get very heavy rain during monsoon. So floods occur in these rivers.
• (2) During summer, these rivers get much water due to the melting of the snow over the Himalayan peaks. So these rivers are perennial.

• (1) Mahanadi originated from Maikal mountains in Chhattisgarh, flows through Odisha and meets the Bay of Bengal.
• (2) Its length is about ; 860 km.
• (3) Its basin is spread in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha.

• (1) River Tapi originated near Multai of Baitul District of Madhya Pradesh in Western Ghats, flows parallel to Narmada in a rift valley and meets the Arabian Sea near Surat.
• (2) It is smaller than Narmada. Its length is about 724 km.
• (3) Its basin is spread in Madhya Pradesh,Maharashtra and Gujarat.

• Krishna’ Basin:
• (1) River Krishna originates from Mahabaleshwar in Western Ghats, passing through Maharashtra, Karnataka and. Andhra Pradesh, meets the Bay of Bengal.
• (2) Its length is about 1400 km.
• (3) Koyna, Ghatprabha, Bhima, Tungabhadra, Musi, etc. are her tributaries.
• (4) Het basin is spread over Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Kaveri Basin: (1) River Kaveri originated in Brahmagiri Range in Karnataka in Western Ghats and meets the Bay of Bengal near old ’ Kaveripatanam, south of Kadlur in Tamil Nadu. (2) It is about 760 km long. (3) Amravati, Bhavani, Hemavati, Kalini, etc. are her major tributaries. (4) Her basin area is spread in Kerala, Karnataka ’ and Tamil Nadu.

• River Godavari is the largest river of Peninsular India. Its length is about 1465 km.
• Originating at Nashik district of Maharashtra in Western Ghats, it flows to east and meets the Bay of Bengal.
• It has the largest river basin in the peninsula, of which 50% area is in Maharashtra and the rest is in Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha.
• Major tributaries of Godavari are Purna, Manjra, Penganga. Vardha, Vainganga, Pranhita and Indravati.
• Godavari has a long route and also has a large basin. So it is also called the ‘Ganga of South’.

• (1) Volume of water in most of the peninsular rivers depends only on rain. So these are ephemeral rivers.
• (2) During Summer, these rivers are almost dried up or there is very little water in their flow.
• (3) These rivers are shorter é compared with the Himalayan rivers.
• (4) These rivers are shallow.
• (5)Most of the rivers flow eastward and meet the Bay of Bengal.
• (6) Western Ghats is the chief water divide for the peninsular rivers.

• (1) Himalayan rivers have larger basins.
• (2) Many rivers have carved out deep valleys with steep slopes and gorges.
• (3) These rivers get water due to rain during monsoon and due to the melting of snow during summer. So these are perennial rivers.
• (4) These rivers make intense erosion and bring sand and sediments in the plains, where landforms like flood plains, cliffsetc. are formed due to the deposition.
• (5) Meanders are seen in the rivers due to the deposition of sediments on the river floors.

• The problems created by water pollution are as follows:
• (1) Clean and healthy water becomes scarce.
• (2) The water becomes unhealthy for daily use and farming,
• (3) The existance of living beings is ? endangered. It spreads many diseases.
• (4) Many issues of public well-being are raised. Remedies for the prevention of water pollution

• Economic importance of rivers:
• (1) River water is a natural resource.
• (2) River water has fulfilled the economic necessities of men.
• (3) Agricultural and industrial development is mainly because of rivers.
• (4) Ancient civilizations of the world flourished and developed along river banks.
• (5) Many large cities in India have developed along : river banks, e.g., Delhi, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Surat. Bharuch, etc.
• (6) Perennial rivers are useful as internal waterways.