Peninsular River System in India

Peninsular rivers flow through the peninsular part of a country. Peninsular rivers (The Deccan Rivers) are characterized by fixed course, absence of meanders and non-perennial. Peninsular rivers comprises of 30 percent of the entire outflow in the country. The major Deccan Rivers are the Mahanadi, the Godavari, the Krishna, the Kaveri, the Pennar, the Damodar, the Sharavati, the Netravati, the Bharathapuzha, the Periyar, the Luni, the Sabarmati, the Narmada and the Tapti. Narmada and Tapti rivers flow westward into the Arabian Sea.

Mahanadi River

This is one of the major rivers of peninsular plateau region flowing into Bay of Bengal. Mahanadi river drains a large part of Orissa. The Seonath, the Hasdeo and the Mand join it from the north and the Jonk and Tel joins from south. River Tel is the main tributary of Mahanadi. The river forms its delta in the Cuttack district of Orissa before flowing into the Bay of Bengal. World's longest dam Hirakud is situated on Mahanadi river.

Godavari river

This is the largest river system (1465 km long) in Peninsular India. River Godavari is commonly known as 'Vriddha Ganga’. It rises from Trimbak in Nasik district in the Western Ghats. Rajahmundri is the largest city on the banks of Godavari. Manjira, Pranahita and Sabari are the important tributaries.

Krishna river

This is the second largest east flowing system of the peninsular region. It has a length of 1,400 km. The river rises in Western Ghats near Mahabaleshwar and flows in a north-easterly direction to Divi in Andhra Pradesh. It enters into the Bay of Bengal. The Koyna, the Bhima, the Muneru, the Malprabha, the Tungabhadra, the Musi, and the Ghatprabha are its major tributaries.

Kaveri river

This is the most southerly among the major rivers of the peninsular region flowing into the Bay of Bengal. It rises in the Brahmagiri Hills in Coorg district in Karnataka and flows towards the coast. It then flows through the South Karnataka Plateau and then through the Tamil Nadu Plains and fall into the well-known Sivasamudram waterfalls. The river island Srirangam is in its middle course. About 3% of the Kaveri basin falls in Kerala, 41 percent in Karnataka and 56 percent in Tamil Nadu. The Kaveri Water Dispute Tribunal gave its final verdict in 2006. According to the Judgement, Karnataka must release 192 TMCFT water to Tamil Nadu. Kaveri river is commonly known as ‘Dakshina Ganga’. Its tributaries are Herangi, Hemavati, Kabini, Suvarnavati, the Bhavani and Amravathi.

West flowing Rivers

Narmada, Tapti and Sabarmati flow into the Arabian sea from the Peninsular region. Narmada and Tapti are the most important west flowing rivers of the country. They falls into the Gulf of Cambay in the Arabian Sea.

Narmada River

The river origins in the Amarkantak plateau, run throughout a rift valley and create a numerous waterfalls. It is the lengthiest west flowing river of the country. It separates Malwa plateau and Chota Nagpur plateau. The Marble Falls closer to the Jabalpur is a well-known fall on this river. The Sardar Sarovar Project is erected in this river system.

Tapti River (Tapi)

It rises near Betul district in Madhya Pradesh. The Puma, flowing from the Gawilgarh Hills, is the most important tributary joining the Tapti near Bhusawal. Nearly 79 percent of its basin lies in Maharashtra, 15 percent in Madhya Pradesh and the remaining 6 percent in Gujarat. Satpura Mountain range lies between Narmada and Tapti.

Sabarmati River

The source of Sabarmati River is the Aravallis range in Rajasthan and falls into the Gulf of Cambay in Gujarat. Its tributaries are the Sedhi, the Meshwa etc.

Luni River

The source of Luni River is the Aravalli Ranges and falls into the Arabian Sea through the Rann of Kutch. It is the largest river system of Rajasthan. For most of the year, Luni is dry.

Pennar River

This river originates in the Nandi hills in the kolar district of Karnataka. It falls into the Bay of Bengal. Tributaries of Pennar are Jayamangali, Kunderu, Chitrabhuati etc.