Himalayan and Peninsular Rivers Compared
| Feature | Himalayan rivers | Peninsular rivers |
|---|---|---|
| Source | Glaciers and snow | Rain-fed, from plateau and Ghats |
| Flow | Perennial | Seasonal (dry in summer) |
| Age | Young, still eroding (V-shaped valleys, gorges, waterfalls) | Old, graded; broad shallow valleys |
| Length / basin | Long, huge basins | Shorter, smaller basins |
| Course | Meanders, braids, shift course; floods | Stable course, rift valley (Narmada, Tapi) |
| Mouth | Deltas (Ganga-Brahmaputra) | Deltas (east) and estuaries (west) |
| Navigation and irrigation | High potential | Limited navigation, tanks, dams |
| Hydropower | Huge | Moderate (Western Ghats), many dams |
| Examples | Indus, Ganga, Brahmaputra | Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri, Narmada, Tapi |
East-flowing vs west-flowing peninsular rivers
| East-flowing | West-flowing |
|---|---|
| Many, long, big basins | Few, short (except Narmada, Tapi) |
| Deltas | Estuaries |
| Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri, Pennar, Subarnarekha | Narmada, Tapi, Mahi, Sabarmati, Luni, Periyar |
| Rise in Western Ghats | Rise in Satpura-Vindhya-Aravalli or the Ghats |
| Flow through the Eastern Ghats gaps | Flow through rifts or steep slope |
Keep practising
Notes are only half the work. Test yourself with questions and discuss doubts with other aspirants.
Prepared for exam revision from NCERT, standard geography textbooks, the Census of India 2011, the India State of Forest Report, IMD, Ministry of Agriculture and other official sources. Maps are schematic teaching maps, not Survey of India maps, and zone boundaries are approximate. Figures such as production, capacity, counts of parks and ports, and census status change, so check the latest official source before relying on them. Found a mistake? Tell us.