To understand indian drainage system first understand the meaning of drainage system
- When water flow through a well defined channels is know as Drainage and the network of such channels is known as drainage system.
- A river drains the water collected from a specific area, which is called its ‘catchment area’.
- An area drained by a river and its tributaries is called a drainage basin.
- The Boundary line separating one drainage basic from another is called watershed.
Types of Drainage Patterns
- Dendritic drainage system
- Parallel drainage System
- Trellis Drainage System
- Rectangular Drainage System
- Radial Drainage System
- Annular Drainage System
- Deranged Drainage System
The indian drainage system can be divided on various basis
- On the basis of discharge of water
- Arabian Sea Drainage : 23 per cent comprising the Indus, the Narmada, the Tapi, the Mahi and the Periyar systems discharge their waters in the Arabian Sea
- Bay of Bengal Drainage: Nearly 77 per cent of the drainage area consisting of the Ganga, the Brahmaputra, the Mahanadi, the Krishna, etc. is oriented towards the Bay of Bengal
- Major river basins with more than 20,000 sq. km of catchment area. It includes 14 drainage basins such as the Ganga, the Brahmaputra, the Krishna, the Tapi, the Narmada, the Mahi, the Pennar, the Sabarmati, the Barak, etc.
- Medium river basin with catchment area 2000-20000 sq. km. 44 river basins such as the Kalindi, the Periyar,the Meghna, etc.
- Minor river basins with catchment area of less than 2,000 sq. km include fairly good number of rivers flowing in the area of low rainfall.
- Himalaya Drainage
- Peninsular Drainage
