Drainage and Drainage System in India - [Geography]

Drainage

The word Drainage describe or explain the river system of an area, Many small streams flowing from different directions came together to form a main river. This river ultimately drains into a large water body such as a ocean, sea or a lake The are which is drained by a single river system is called Drainage Basin. The two drainage basins is separated by any elevated area, such as a mountain or an upland. Such an upland is known as a water divide.

Drainage System In India

The broad relief features of the subcontinent i.e, India mainly controlled by the drainage system of India. The Indian rivers are divided into two major groups; The Himalayan rivers and The Peninsular rivers.

The Himalayan and Peninsular rivers are different from each other in many ways Apart from originating from the two major physiography regions of India. Many of the Himalayan rivers are perennial because they have water throughout the year. Water from rain and the melted snow from the lofty mountains are the main source of water of these rivers. The Indus and the Brahmaputra are two major Himalayan rivers originate from the north of the mountains ranges. They have cut through the mountains making gorges. These rivers have long course they perform intensive erosional activity and carry huge loads of silt and send. These rivers form meanders, oxbow, lakes, and many other dispositional features in the middle and the lower courses, in the floodplains. They also formed well-developed deltas. Most Of Peninsular rivers are seasonal as they mainly depend on rainfall. In dry season, even large rivers have reduced flow of water in their Channels. As compared to the Himalayan rivers these rivers have shorter and shallower highland and flow towards the west. Most of the peninsular rivers originate from the Western Ghats and flow towards the Bay of Bengal.