The Ganga River System

Ganga has been a very important and integral part of India both in terms of its cultural significance as well as its basin. Ganga is the most sacred river for those who follow Hinduism and runs along the northern part of India. As many as four hundred million people live in the area that forms the Ganga basin. Ganga basin denotes the area that is drained by the river Ganga or its tributaries. That certainly gives an idea that the surface water, along with the rainwater, flows into the nearby river.

At the Goumukh range in the Himalayan mountains, the Ganga originated as Goumukh, is the termination point of the Gangotri glacier. As the glacier melts, it forms the river Bhagirathi that has crystal clear fresh glacier melted water. As it flows down the Himalayan range, it meets Alaknanda at Devprayag, and from there, River Ganga is born. Alaknanda River is also formed from the Satopanth Glacier that is located above Badrinath. The Ganga basin is considered a small part of a large river basin that forms when the river Ganga meets with the other two nearby rivers named Brahmaputra and Meghna. They together form Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna river basins which are popularly known as the Ganga-Brahmaputra basin. The three together form the largest river system in the world.

Alaknanda has its own tributaries called Dhauli and Vishnu Ganga that separately flow down from the lesser Himalayan range and meet at Vishnu Prayag, which is also popularly known as Joshimath. There are several other tributaries of Alaknanda, such as Pinder, who meets the two at Karnaprayag and another tributary called Mandakini, also famously known as Kali Ganga, who meets the two major tributaries at Rudraprayag from where Ganga finally enters Haridwar. From Haridwar, it initially flows southwards and then turns to the southeast and finally split into two distributaries in the east of India called Hogli and Bhagirathi. The total length of the river is 2525 Km that has been distributed as in Uttrakhand covers 110 KM, in Uttar Pradesh, it covers 1450 Km, in Bihar, it is 445 Km, and finally, in West Bengal, it covers 520 Km. There have been many rivers that originate both from the Himalayas in the North that make perennial rivers and Peninsula South that make non-perennial rivers. Thus this entire topic explains the Ganga River System.

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Image: Illustration of the Ganga River System Map

The Ganga Brahmaputra Basin

The Ganga-Brahmaputra Basin is considered as one of the biggest river basins that are a transfusion of three big rivers, namely, Ganga, Brahmaputra and Meghna. The Ganga Brahmaputra Basin is located from 100 to 300 N of sub-tropical area. The total area covered by the transboundary river basin of the three rivers is 1.7 million kilometres. The transboundary is divided among countries, namely, India contains 64%, China contains 18%, Nepal contains 7%, and Bhutan contains 3%. Nepal is fully located on the river Ganga basin, whereas Bhutan is located entirely on the Brahmaputra river basin. The three rivers forming a common basin are considered as one transboundary basin of the GBM river system, but the three rivers individually possess entirely different characteristics, flow patterns and routes. They are also widely varied in their lengths. They join just a few hundred kilometres above the mouth of the Bay of Bengal. Not only the three rivers but their tributaries are also equally important for their social, economic as well as political aspects for all the countries mentioned above.

Life In The Ganga Brahmaputra Basin

The Ganga Brahmaputra Basin is one of the highest populated basins in the world. It is not just a densely populated basin but is also a highly fertile basin of land in the subtropical region. The basin is basically the convergence of Himalayan mountains as well as plains. Its unique location makes this basin different from the other basins in the world. The basin lies close to the plains of river Ganga and Brahmaputra, but the delta that is formed in Himalayas and Sunderbans also makes a unique feature of this basin. It is known for its enriched vegetation, besides being great life support for many people and the animal kingdoms. The Ganga Brahmaputra basin is a great embodiment of the wide interaction of nature, the environment and humans. Some of the key features of life in Ganga Brahmaputra basins are:

1. Climate: The basin is located in the tropical region of the northern hemisphere. Thus it is hot in summers and cold in winters. But the predominant weather here is monsoon. Thus this region experiences very heavy rainfall throughout the year, especially from the month of June to September.

2. Varied Topography: the population around the entire stretch of the Ganga Brahmaputra basin depends upon the climate and environmental conditions. For instance, the population on the plains of the basin is more as compared to Himalayan ranges. The steep slopes of the mountains make it fairly inhabitable by humans. As the plain areas are more fertile and easy to cultivate, thus it draws more population towards it. As the land around the basin is highly enriched with a lot of minerals carried by the waters of two rivers makes it highly fertile for agriculture throughout the year.

The main crops that are cultivated for most of the year are paddy while, maize, millets, sorghums and the second crop that is cultivated in off-seasons is grams. Some of the areas near the basin are also used to grow cash crops like sugarcane and jute. As the basin stretches from the northern hills to the east of India thus a variety of cultivation is witnessed along the basin of the rivers. In further east banana and tea cultivations on slightly, slope areas are seen. The main technique used for such plantations is terrace farming.

3. Vegetation Cover: As the basin stretches a long way from the north to the extreme east, thus a variety of vegetation is seen along the basin. Deciduous trees are densely crowded along the basin of river Ganga and Brahmaputra. Some of the very common trees that are seen through the entire stretch are Sal, Teak and Peepal. The plains of Brahmaputra are exclusively crowded with bamboo grooves, whereas the delta region is fully covered with mangrove forests. As the basin descends towards Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, a lot of coniferous trees are seen as that of Pine, Deodar and Fins.

4. Wildlife: The basin is a habitat of many wildlife that is found in India. The white tigers of Sundarbans, normal tigers, elephants and monkeys are common among the other wildlife found here. Apart from Bengal Tiger, crocodiles, alligators and one-horned rhinos are very commonly seen here in the eastern delta region. The common aquatic fishes of sweetwater are Rohu, Katla, Hilsa and Susu (the blind dolphins). They are also found in abundance in the rivers and the lakes that are joined with the delta.

Name Of The Main Tributaries Of River Ganga

Describing the tributaries of the Ganga River System that clearly explains the Ganga River System are as follows:

1. The Yamuna: It is the longest and the most western tributary of Ganga that has its source in the Yamunotri Glaciers that are found in the Banderpuch range of the western slopes at an altitude of 6316 Kms from the sea level. It joins Ganga at Prayag.

2. The Chambal: It has its source from where it rises in Mhow that is situated in the Malwa plateau of Madhya Pradesh. It then flows northwards through a channel that goes upwards to Kotain Rajasthan, where the Gandhisagar dam is situated.  From there, it travels downwards to finally meet the Yamuna via Bundi, Swai Madhopur and Dholpur.

3. Gandak: Gandak consists of two distributaries, named, Kaligandak and trishul gandak. It originates from the Himalayan range of Nepal between Mount Everest and Dhaulagiri. It finally travels down to the drain in the central part of Nepal.

4. The Ghagra: It rises from the glacier of Mapchachungo. After its tributaries, namely, Tila, Seti, Beri, finally meet the Ghagra, it flows down the mountains by cutting deep channels in Shishapani. It joins the river Sharda before it finally meets river Ganga.

5. The Kosi: It originates in the north of Mount Everest that falls in Tibet, and the mainstream named Arun initiates. It then crosses the central Himalayan ranges in Nepal. Finally crossing the range, it meets Sun Kosi that comes from the west and Tamur Kosi that rises in the east. They all together form Saptakoshi after they all meet at a point.

6. The Ramganga: It is a very small river that rises from Garhwal, a hill station near Garrison. It then moves in the southwest direction and enters into the plainland of Uttar Pradesh from Najibabad after it crosses the Shiwalik. Finally, near Kannauj, it meets the river Ganga.

The Damodar: It rises from the eastern boundary of the Chotanagpur plateau. Then it flows down through a rift valley to meet Hogli.