Page 1 - LN-Sub Topic-3

SAI International School
Grade-IX Sub: Geography

Ch 3- Drainage
Sub Topic 3- The Himalayan Rivers

Sub-topics Lesson Notes

The Himalayan The Brahmaputra River System
Rivers- (The
Brahmaputra • Originating in Tibet from east of Lake Mansarovar, very close to the sources of
River System- Indus and Satluj, most of its course lies outside the India.
page no- 20, 21)
• It covers a distance of 3080km.from Tibet to Bangladesh. Brahmaputra is
known as the Tsang Po in Tibet and Jamuna in Bangladesh.
• On reaching Namcha Barwa it takes a ‘U’ turn and enters in Arunachal Pradesh
to flow to Assam joined by many tributaries.

• The river carries a smaller volume of water and less silt in Tibet but in India it
carries a large volume of water and considerable amount of silt.
• The major tributaries of Brahmaputra are Tista, Dibang, Lohit, Kenula, Dihang
and Subansiri.

• It causes massive flood havoc and widespread devastation in Assam and
Bangladesh every year in rainy season.

• The Brahmaputra is marked by huge deposits of silt on its bed, causing the
riverbed to rise that leads the river to bifurcate and form braided channel.
• The Brahmaputra has braided channels in its entire length in Assam to form
many riverine islands. World’s largest riverine island(Majuli) is found in
Brahmaputra.
•

The The Peninsular Rivers
Peninsular
Rivers- (till the • Western Ghats form the main water divide in peninsular India.
Tapi basin- • The major rivers of the peninsula — Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri —
page no-21) rise from Western Ghats and flow eastwards to drain into the Bay of Bengal.

• There are numerous small streams flowing west of the Western Ghats to the
Arabian Sea.
• The Tapi and the Narmada are the only rivers which flow west to make
estuaries and drain into the Arabian Sea.

• The other main west flowing rivers are Sabarmati, Mahi, Bharathpuzha and
Periyar.