Facts about Northern Plains of India

The vast plains of north India are alluvial in nature and the western most portions are occupied by the Thar Desert.
This plain lies to the south of the Himalayas.
The total length of the northern plain is abou 2,400 km and the width varies from 150 to 300 km.
The plain is drained by Indus, Ganga, Brahmaputra and its tributaries.
It is the largest agricultural division of India.
40% Indian population lives here.
Bhabar of North Indian plain is the region where streams get disappeared.
Terai is the zone where the streams appeared. This is the largest marshy tract of India.
Northern plain is classified into three divisions - The Punjab plain drained by Indus and its tributaries, The Ganga plain drained by Ganga and its tributaries & The Brahmaputra valley drained by Brahmaputra and its tributaries.

The Punjab Plain

The western part of the northern plain is called the Indus plain or Punjab plain.
It slopes gently towards west and extends into Pakistan through Punjab.
The plain is drained by the Indus and its tributaries.
The Indian part of the plain is also called the Punjab and Haryana Plain.
The North-western part of this plain is called as Bari-Doab and the eastern part is called as Bist-Doab.
Streams carrying water only during the rainy season and with their beds choked with boulders arc called chos in Punjab.
The water becoming sub-surface in this zone emerges on the surface in lower areas downstream and produces marshy conditions. Such marsh areas in Punjab are called mand.
The only river that remains perennial in its upper course in Haryana is Ghaggar. This stream is lost in the dry area in Rajasthan.

The Ganga is the master river after that the name of the plain is so.
The Ganga and its tributaries have conveyed huge amount of alluvium soil from the peaks and deposited it here to put up this widespread plain.
An important division of the plain is made in terms of the khadar and the bangar zones. The term khadar refers to the new alluvium and the bangar to the old alluvium.
The lower part of the plain adjacent to the rivers that is prone to frequent floods is called khadar.
The western part of the plain from Haridwar to Aligarh is called Upper Doab and from Aligarh to Allahabad is called the Middle Doab.
The northern part of Ganga-Yamuna Doab and Uttar Pradesh is covered by Ruhelkhand Plain. This part is drained by Ghaghra, Rapti and Gomti rivers.
The plain is characterized by streams that flow as sub-surface channels in dry season. This area is called the bhabhar or the ‘bhabar zone’.
The marshy region at the foot of the Himalayas is called the terai zone. Much of this zone has been drained out and reclaimed for agriculture.

The Brahmaputra plain is also known as Assam Plain.
This plain is formed by the sediment brought by the Brahmaputra and its tributaries.
Floods are the common feature of the Assam plain.
Brahmaputra plain is about 720km extended and its normal width is 60-100 km.
The Brahmaputra River goes through this plain near Sadiya and run farther to Bangladesh after turning southwards near Dhubri.
The common altitude of the plain differs from 130m in the east to the 30m in the west.
There are large marshy tracts in Brahmaputra Plain.

Name the largest brackish water lake in the country?

Sambhar lake in Rajasthan. It is the source of most of Rajasthan's salt production. Sambhar has been designated as a Ramsar site.