List of major rivers of India - wikipedia List of major rivers of India Map of the major rivers, lakes, and reservoirs in India Map showing rivers and flood prone areas in India The rivers of India play an important role in the lives of the Indians. They provide potable water, cheap transportation, electricity, and the livelihood for a large number of people all over the country. This easily explains why nearly all the major cities of India are located by the banks of rivers. The rivers also have an important role in Hindu Dharma and are considered holy by all Hindus in the country. Seven major rivers along with their numerous tributaries make up the river system of India. The largest basin system of the rivers pour their waters into the Bay of Bengal ; however, some of the rivers whose courses take them through the western part of the country and towards the east of the state of Himachal Pradesh empty into the Arabian Sea. Parts of Ladakh, northern parts of the Aravalli range and the arid parts of the Thar Desert have inland drainage. All major rivers of India originate from one of the following main watersheds : Aravalli range Himalaya and Karakoram ranges Sahyadri or Western Ghats in western India Vindhya and Satpura ranges and Chotanagpur plateau in central India Himalayan glaciers in the Indian subcontinent are broadly divided into the three river basins, namely the Indus, Ganga and Brahmaputra. The Indus basin has the largest number of glaciers ( 3500 ), whereas the Ganga and Brahmaputra basins contain about 1000 and 660 glaciers, respectively. Contents 1 The Indo - Gangetic Plains 2 Aravalli Range River System 3 Ganges River System 4 Indus River system 5 Annual flows and other data 6 The Peninsular River system 7 See also 8 References The indo - gangetic plains Known as Ganga - Satluj Ka Maidaan ( गँगा सतलुज का मैदान ), this area is drained by 16 major rivers. The major Himalayan Rivers are the Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra. These rivers are long, and are joined by many large and important tributaries. Himalayan rivers have long courses from their source to sea ( in India Arabian sea and Bay of Bengal ). Laxman Jhoola in Rishikesh Aravalli range river system Following rivers flow from the Aravalli range, both northwards to Yamuna as well as southwards to Arabian Sea. North - to - south flowing rivers, originate from the western slopes of Aravalli range in Rajasthan, pass through the southeastern portion of the Thar Desert, and end into Gujarat. Luni River, originates in the Pushkar valley near Ajmer, ends in the marshy lands of Rann of Kutch. Sakhi river, ends in the marshy lands of Rann of Kutch. Sabarmati River, originates one the western slopes of Aravalli range of the Udaipur District, end into the Gulf of Cambay of Arabian Sea. West to north - west flowing rivers, originate from the western slopes of Aravalli range in Rajasthan, flow through semi-arid historical Shekhawati region, drain into southern Haryana. Several Ochre Coloured Pottery culture sites, also identified as late Harappan phase of Indus Valley Civilisation culture, has been found along the banks of these rivers. Sahibi River, originates near Manoharpur in Sikar district flows through Haryana, along with its following tributaries : Dohan river, tributary of Sahibi river, originates near Neem Ka Thana in Alwar district ). Sota River, tributary of Sahibi river, merges with Sahibi river at Behror in Alwar district. Krishnavati river, former tributary of Sahibi river, originates near near Dariba copper mines in Rajsamand district of Rajasthan, flows through Patan in Dausa district and Mothooka in Alwar district, then disappears in Mahendragarh district in Haryana much before reaching Sahibi river. West to north - east flowing rivers, originating from the eastern slopes of Aravalli range in Rajasthan, flow northwards to Yamuna. Chambal River, a southern - side tributary of Yamuna river. Banas River, a northern - side tributary of Chambal river. Berach River, a southern - side tributary of Banas River, originates in the hills of Udaipur District. Ahar River, a right - side ( or eastern side ) tributary of the Berach river, originates in the hills of Udaipur District, flows through Udaipur city forming the famous Lake Pichola. Wagli Wagon River, a right - side tributary of the Berach River. Gambhiri River, a right - side tributary of the Berach river. Orai River, a right - side tributary of the Berach River. Ganges river system The major rivers in this system are ( in order of merging, from west to east ) Ganga - Starting from Gangotri Glacier, Uttarakhand Chambal - Flows through Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and merges into Yamuna in Uttar Pradesh Betwa - Not Himalayan river, covers Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh before merging into Yamuna Yamuna - Yamuna runs its most of the course parallel to Ganga before contributing its water to Ganga at Allahabad Gomti - Starts near the junction of three borders viz. Nepal, Uttarakhand and UP Ghaghra - Starts in Nepal near Uttarakhand Son - Not Himalayan river, covers MP, UP, Jharkhand and Bihar. Largest of Ganga 's southern tributaries Gandak - Starts from Nepal Kosi - Starts from Bihar, near Indo - Nepal border Brahmaputra - Merges with Ganga to form the grand river ( but short in length ) - Padma in Bangladesh. By now, flow velocity of both rivers slow down to considerable extent as they are in plains now. Before entering Bangladesh, Ganga leaves a distributary Hoogly, which provides water for irrigation in West Bengal Indus river system The Indus River originates in the northern slopes of the Kailash range near Lake Mansarovar in Tibet. Although most of the river 's course runs through neighbouring Pakistan, as per as regulation of Indus water treaty of 1960, India can use only 20 percent of the water in this river. A portion of it does run through Indian territory, as do parts of the courses of its five major tributaries, listed below. These tributaries are the source of the name of the Punjab of South Asia ; the name is derived from the punch ( `` five '' ) and aab ( `` water '' ), hence the combination of the words ( Punjab ) means `` land with the water of five rivers ''. The Indus is 3,200 kilometres ( 2,000 mi ) long. The major rivers in Indus river system are ( in order of their length ) : Indus - 3,202 kilometres ( 1,990 mi ) Chenab - 960 kilometres ( 600 mi ) Jhelum - 813 kilometres ( 505 mi ) Ravi - 720 kilometres ( 450 mi ) Sutlej - 529 kilometres ( 329 mi ) Beas - 460 kilometres ( 290 mi ) Shyok Zanskar Annual flows and other data India experiences an average precipitation of 1,170 millimetres ( 46 in ) per year, or about 4,000 cubic kilometres ( 960 cu mi ) of rains annually. Some 80 percent of its area experiences rains of 750 millimetres ( 30 in ) or more a year. However, this rain is not uniform in time or geography. Most of the rains occur during its monsoon seasons ( June to September ), with the northeast and north receiving far more rains than India 's west and south. Other than rains, the melting of snow year round over the Himalayas feeds the northern rivers to varying degrees. The southern rivers, however experience more flow variability over the year. For the Himalayan basin, this leads to flooding in some months and water scarcity in others. Despite extensive river system, safe clean drinking water as well as irrigation water supplies for sustainable agriculture are in shortage across India, in part because it has, as yet, harnessed a small fraction of its available and recoverable surface water resource. India harnessed 761 cubic kilometres ( 183 cu mi ) ( 20 percent ) of its water resources in 2010, part of which came from unsustainable use of groundwater. Of the water it withdrew from its rivers and groundwater wells, India dedicated about 688 cubic kilometres ( 165 cu mi ) to irrigation, 56 cubic kilometres ( 13 cu mi ) to municipal and drinking water applications and 17 cubic kilometres ( 4.1 cu mi ) to industry. According to 2011 report of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, India 's basin wise distribution of catchment area and utilizable surface water resources is presented in the following table : Basin number River basin unit Region Draining into Catchment area ( % of river irrigated India ) Average runoff ( km ) Additional available surface water ( km ) 1.1 Ganges ( GBM ) North Bangladesh 26.5 525.02 250 Brahmaputra ( GBM ) Northeast Bangladesh 6 537.24 24 1.3 Meghna / Barak ( GBM ) East Bangladesh 1.5 48.36 Other Northeast rivers Northeast Myanmar, Bangladesh 1.1 31 Subernarekha East - southeast Bay of Bengal 0.9 12.37 Brahmani - Baitarani East - southeast Bay of Bengal 1.6 28.48 6.8 5 Mahanadi Central - east Bay of Bengal 4.4 66.88 18.3 6 Godavari Central Bay of Bengal 9.7 110.54 50 7 Krishna Central Bay of Bengal 8 78.12 76.3 8 Pennar Southeast Bay of Bengal 1.7 6.32 58 9 Kaveri South Bay of Bengal 2.5 21.36 6.9 10 East flowing rivers between Mahanadi and Pennar Central - east Bay of Bengal 2.7 22.52 19 11 East flowing rivers between Kanyakumari and Pennar Southeast Bay of Bengal 3.1 16.46 13.1 12 West flowing rivers between Tadri and Kanyakumari Southwest Arabian Sea 1.7 113.53 16.7 13 West flowing rivers between Tapi and Tadri Southwest Arabian Sea 1.7 87.41 24.3 14 Tapi Central - west Arabian Sea 14.88 11.9 15 Narmada Central - west Arabian Sea 3.1 45.64 14.5 16 Mahi Northwest Arabian Sea 1.1 11.02 34.5 17 Sabarmati Northwest Arabian Sea 0.7 3.81 3.1 18 West flowing rivers between Kutch and Saurashtra Northwest Arabian Sea 10 15.1 1.9 19 Rajasthan inland basin Northwest India 0 Negligible 15 20 Indus tributaries Northwest Pakistan 10 73.31 46 Total ( per International Treaty ) 100 1869.37 The peninsular river system The main water divide in peninsular rivers is formed by the Western Ghats, which run from north to south close to the western coast. Most of the major rivers of the peninsula such as the Mahanadi, the Godavari, the Krishna and the Kaveri flow eastwards and drain into the Bay of Bengal. These rivers make delta at their mouths. The Narmada, Periyar and Tapti are the only long rivers, which flow west and make estuaries. This chart shows the tributaries and distributaries of major rivers of India. The merging of cells to the right side each time indicates getting supply from a tributary and vice versa. The bottom-most row shows other rivers with no major helping rivers ( Saryu is an exception ). Flow of the rivers is assumed to be from left to right. See also Indian Rivers Inter-link Amazon river basin Rhine river basin Danube river basin Nile river basin ganga Kannur Trivandrum References Jump up ^ Sunil Vaidyanathan, Rivers of India, ISBN 978 - 8189738884, 2012 Jump up ^ http://www.ijsce.org/attachments/File/v3i1/A1288033113.pdf page no 361 Jump up ^ Gupta, S.P. ( ed. ) ( 1995 ), The lost Sarasvati and the Indus Civilization, Jodhpur : Kusumanjali Prakashan CS1 maint : Extra text : authors list ( link ) Jump up ^ Cultural Contours of India : Dr. Satya Prakash Felicitation Volume, Vijai Shankar Śrivastava, 1981. ISBN 0391023586 Jump up ^ Sahibi river Jump up ^ Books : Page 41, 42, 43, 44, 47 ( b ) Sahibi Nadi ( River ), River Pollution, By A.k. jain Jump up ^ Minerals and Metals in Ancient India : Archaeological evidence, Arun Kumar Biswas, Sulekha Biswas, University of Michigan. 1996. ISBN 812460049X. ^ Jump up to : FAO, India - Rivers Catchment, Aquastat, United Nations ( 2011 ) Jump up ^ K.L. Rao, India 's Water Wealth, ISBN 978 - 8125007043, 1979 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_major_rivers_of_India&oldid=800462413 '' Categories : Lists of rivers of India Rivers of India Hidden categories : CS1 maint : Extra text : authors list Talk Contents About Wikipedia বাংলা भोजपुरी हिन्दी ಕನ್ನಡ संस्कृतम् Edit links This page was last edited on 13 September 2017, at 18 : 09. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: which river has the largest catchment area in india
Answer: Ganges