The Ganga System – The River Systems of the Himalayan Drainage

The most important river of India both from the point of view of its basin and cultural significance.

It rises in the Gangotri glacier near Gaumukh (3,900 m) in the Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand. Here, it is known as the Bhagirathi.

At Devprayag, the Bhagirathi meets the Alaknanda; hereafter, it is known as the Ganga.

The Alaknanda has its source in the Satopanth glacier above Badrinath

The Ganga enters the plains at Haridwar. From here, it flows first to the south, then to the south-east and east before splitting into two distributaries, namely the Bhagirathi and the Hugli.

The river has a length of 2,525 km. It is shared by Uttarakhand (110 km) and Uttar Pradesh (1,450 km), Bihar (445 km) and West Bengal (520 km). The Ganga basin covers about 8.6 lakh sq. km area in India alone.

The Ganga river system is the largest in India having a number of perennial and non- perennial rivers originating in the Himalayas in the north and the Peninsula in the south, respectively.

The Son is its major right bank tributary.

The important left bank tributaries are the Ramganga, the Gomati, the Ghaghara, the Gandak, the Kosi and the Mahananda. The river finally discharges itself into the Bay of Bengal near the Sagar Island.

The Yamuna, the western most and the longest tributary of the Ganga, has its source in the Yamunotri glacier on the western slopes of Banderpunch range (6,316 km). It joins the Ganga at Prayag (Allahabad).

The Gandak comprises two streams, namely Kaligandak and Trishulganga. It rises in the Nepal Himalayas between the Dhaulagiri and Mount Everest and drains the central part of Nepal. It enters the Ganga plain in Champaran district of Bihar and joins the Ganga at Sonpur near Patna

The Mahananda is another important tributary of the Ganga rising in the Darjiling hills.

It joins the Ganga as its last left bank tributary in West Bengal.