Top 10 Biggest Rivers In India

                                 Top 10 Biggest Rivers In India

                                                                      
                                                                         

WHAT ARE RIVERS ?

  Top 10 Biggest Rivers In India:  A river is a ribbon-like body of water that flows downhill from the force of gravity. A river can be wide and deep, or shallow enough for a person to wade across. A flowing body of water that is smaller than a river is called a stream, creek, or brook. Some rivers flow year-round, while others flow only during certain seasons or when there has been a lot of rain. The largest rivers can be thousands of miles long. The erosional power of rivers can form geologic wonders like the Grand Canyon.
     All rivers have a starting point where water begins its flow. This source is called a headwater. The headwater can come from rainfall or snowmelt in mountains, but it can also bubble up from groundwater or form at the edge of a lake or large pond. The other end of a river is called its mouth, where water empties into a larger body of water, such as a lake or ocean. Along the way, rivers may pass through wetlands where plants slow down the water and filter out pollutants.

IMPORTANCE OF RIVERS:

       Rivers have been extremely helpful to men in all parts of the earth from the very early times. They provide water to slake the the thirsty of  men, to fertilize their lands, to provide a means of communication for the goods that transport from place to place, provides food, energy, recreation and of course water for irrigation and for drinking. It is an essential element and the single most important commodity in our lives. Without river life wouldn't be possible.

5 FAMOUS RIVERS RIVERS IN INDIA:

(1) GANGES RIVER:
 
Ganges river, Hindi Ganga great river of the plains of the northern Indian subcontinent. Although officially as well as popularly called the Ganga in Hindi and in other Indian languages, internationally it is known by its conventional name, the Ganges.  For most of its course it is a wide and sluggish stream, flowing through one of the most fertile and densely populated regions in the world.
     The 2,704 km (1,680 mi) river originates from the Gangotri Glacier of western Himalayas in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, and flows south and east through the Gangetic Plain of India and Bangladesh, eventually emptying into the Bay of Bengal. ... It is a sacred river and worshipped as the goddess Ganga in Hinduism.
   Tehri project, Ramganga project, Tanakpur project, Gandak project, Kosi project, Rihand project, Bansagar, Matatila project, Chambal project, Damodar Valley and Mayurakshi project are the important river valley project link with Ganga river basin.

(2) BRAHMAPUTRA RIVER:

Brahmaputra river, Bengali Jamuna, Tibetan Tsangpo, Chinese (Pinyin) Yarlung Zangbo Jiang or (Wade-Giles romanization)  Ya-lu-tsang-puchiang major river of Central and South Asia. It flows some 1,800 miles (2,900 km) from its source in the Himalayas to its confluence with the Ganges (Ganga) river after which the mingled waters of the two rivers empty into the Bay of Bengal.
    Along its course the Brahmaputra passes through the Tibet Autonomous  Region of China the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh  and  Assam and  Bangladesh. For most of its length, the river serves as an important inland waterway It is not, however, navigable between the mountains of Tibet and the plains of India.
     The Zangmu dam is a gravity dam on the Yarlung Zangbo/Brahmaputra River 9 km (5.6 mi) northwest of Gyaca in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. This dam is built a few kilometers from the bhutan- India border. The purpose of the dam is hydroelectric power production using run-of-the-river technology.
 
(3) YAMUNA RIVER:

Yamuna is the second-largest tributy river of the  Ganga  and the longest tributary in India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of 6,387 metres (20,955 ft) on the southwestern slopes of  Banderpooch  peaks of the Lower Himalaya in  Uttarkhand, it travels a total length of 1,376 kilometres (855 mi) and has a drainage system of 366,223 square kilometres (141,399 sq mi), 40.2% of the entire Ganga basin. It merges with the Ganga at Triveni Sangam, Prayagraj, which is a site of the Kumbh Mela, a Hindu festival held every 12 years.
   Lakhwar-Vyasi dam project on Yamuna river includes under-construction Lakhwar dam and Power station, Vyasi Dam, Hathiari Power station and katapathar barrage near the Lakhwar town in Kalsi block of Dehradun district of  Uttarakhand in India for the purpose of irrigation of 40,000 hectare land and total 927 MW hydroelectric power generation.

(4) GODAVARI RIVER:

     The river Godavari, the largest of the peninsular rivers, and third largest in India, drains
about 10%  of India's total geographical area. The catchment area of the river is 3,12,812
sq.km. and is spread in the states of Maharashtra (48.6%), Andhra Pradesh (23.4%), Madhya
Pradesh (10.0%), Chattisgarh (10.9%), Orissa (5.7%) and Karnataka (1.4%). The basin lies in
the Deccan plateau and is situated between latitude 160 16' 00" North and 22 0 36' 00" North
and longitude 730 26' 00" East and 830 07' 00" East.
        The river Godavari rises at an elevation of 1,067 m in the Western Ghats near
Thriambak Hills in the Nasik district of Maharashrta. After flowing for about 1,465 km., in a
generally south-east direction, it falls into the Bay of Bengal.
          About 64 km. from its source, the Godavari receives the waters from Dharna, on its right bank and a short distance down stream the Kadana joins it from the left. The combined waters of the Pravara and Mula which rise in the hills of Akola join the river from left about 217 km. from its source. About 338 km. from its source, the river receives the combined waters from the Purna and Dudhna rivers and after a further 138 km. at the border of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, the waters of the Manjira river joins it from the South. At this point, Godavari flows at
an elevation of about 329 m.

(5) KRISHNA RIVER:

     The Krishna river is the fifth longest river in India. It is 1,300 kilometres (810 miles) long. It is the second longest river in South India. The river is the major source of  irrigation in the states of  Telangana, Maharashtra,  Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
     The mighty Krishna River bears the name of Lord Krishna; the beloved dark and dusky lord worshipped throughout the country. Originating but a few kilometers from Arabian Sea, the river has chosen to flow towards Bay of Bengal becoming a lifeline of four states viz. Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. In its journey of thousands of kilometers and thousands of years, the river witnesses an amazing diversity in language, lifestyle, food and culture.
      UKP-Stage I. Stage I of the UKP plans to use 119 tmcft of water and irrigate 4250 km² of land on the left bank of the Krishna river. It involves construction of Almatti Dam and Narayanpur Dam along with several other canals.

 HYDROPOWER : GENERATE ENERGY WITH RIVERS

Hydropower (from hydro meaning water) is energy that comes from the force of moving water.
Hydropower is called a renewable energy source because it is replenished by snow and rainfall. As long as the rain falls, we won't run out of this energy source.
       All rivers and streams flow downhill across the land surface. Humans can convert this motion of water, which is a form of kinetic energy, into electricity by building dams across rivers. ... As the water pushes the turbine, the kinetic energy is transferred into a generator that converts it into electric energy.
    Hydropower is the most important and widely-used renewable source of energy.
Hydropower represents about 17% of total electricity production.
China is the largest producer of hydroelectricity, followed by Canada, Brazil, and the United States .

ADVANTAGES TO HYDROELECTRIC POWER:

• Fuel is not burned so there is minimal pollution
• Water to run the power plant is provided free by nature
• Hydropower plays a major role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
• Relatively low operations and maintenance costs.
• The technology is reliable and proven over time.
• It's renewable - rainfall renews the water in the reservoir, so the fuel is almost always there.

CAUSES AND EFFECTS  OF POLLUTING RIVER WATER:

Dirty water containing chemicals is put back in the river. Water used for cooling is warmer than the river itself, and this is also a form of pollution. People are sometimes careless and throw rubbish such as bottles and crisp packets directly into rivers. ... Polluted water also carries diseases.
Discharge of domestic and industrial effluent wastes, leakage from water tanks, marine dumping, radioactive waste and atmospheric deposition are major causes of water pollution. Heavy metals that disposed off and industrial waste can accumulate in lakes and river, proving harmful to humans and animals.

     Some of these water-borne diseases are Typhoid, Cholera, Paratyphoid Fever, Dysentery, Jaundice, Amoebiasis and Malaria. Chemicals in the water also have negative effects on our health. Pesticides – can damage the nervous system and cause cancer because of the carbonates and organophosphates that they contain.

INTER STATE RIVER WATER DISPUTES ACT, 1956

The Interstate River Water Disputes Act, 1956 is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted under Article 262 of Constitution of India on the eve of reorganization of states on linguistic basis to resolve the water disputes that would arise in the use, control and distribution of an interstate river or river valley.
According to its water disputes tribunal, if a State Government makes a request regarding any water dispute and the Central Government is of opinion that the water dispute cannot be settled by negotiations, then a water dispute tribunal is constituted for the adjudication of the water dispute.

RIVER WATER DISPUTE BETWEEN THE STATES OF INDIA

Krishna-Godavari dispute is due to the objections raised by the governments of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. ... Similar disputes arise as Kaveri issue between the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, and Yamuna water dispute between Haryana and Delhi governments regarding the use of water.

CONCLUSION:

Rivers are invaluably useful for man, animals, and plants. They are the source of potable water, irrigation for agriculture, power generation, transport, food, recreation and leisure, etc. ... We must ensure there is no pollution of rivers by dumping any waste such as, sewage, effluents, and other toxic substances.