Which is the largest river basin of India by area?
- A.Godavari basin
- B.Indus basin
- C.Ganga basin
- D.Brahmaputra basin
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is C, the Ganga basin, which covers about 8.6 lakh square kilometres inside India, close to a quarter of the country, and takes in parts of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Delhi. Option A is wrong because the Godavari, with about 3.1 lakh square kilometres, is the largest basin of peninsular India but only the third largest in the country. Option B is wrong because the Indus basin within India is about 3.2 lakh square kilometres, far smaller than the Ganga, and much of the whole basin lies in Pakistan. Option D is wrong because the Indian part of the Brahmaputra basin is roughly 1.9 lakh square kilometres, although the river carries more water than any other in India. The three way distinction between largest basin, longest river and highest discharge is a favourite source of confusion.
Read the full article: Drainage Patterns and River Basins of India: GK Notes
Practice Questions
View allThe drainage pattern in which the tributaries of a river look like the branches of a tree is called
- A.Radial
- B.Dendritic
- C.Centripetal
- D.Trellis
Show answer
The word comes from the Greek for tree, and the pattern develops where the underlying rock is of uniform hardness and the slope is gentle, so the streams branch freely without being guided by lines of weakness; the tributaries of the Ganga in the northern plain are the standard Indian…
Read the full explanation →The Narmada, the Son and the Mahanadi flowing out in different directions from the Amarkantak plateau is an example of which drainage pattern?
- A.Radial
- B.Rectangular
- C.Parallel
- D.Deranged
Show answer
In a radial pattern the streams start from a dome, a volcanic cone or a high plateau and run outward in all directions like the spokes of a wheel.
Read the full explanation →Which river of peninsular India is known as the Dakshin Ganga and has the largest basin in the peninsula?
- A.Krishna
- B.Godavari
- C.Mahanadi
- D.Cauvery
Show answer
It rises at Trimbakeshwar in Nashik district of Maharashtra, runs about one thousand four hundred kilometres across Maharashtra, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh to the Bay of Bengal, and drains about 3.1 lakh square kilometres, the largest catchment in the peninsula, which is why it is called the Ganga of the…
Read the full explanation →Centripetal drainage, in which streams flow inward from all sides, is best illustrated in India by the streams draining into
- A.Chilika lake
- B.Wular lake
- C.Loktak lake
- D.Sambhar lake
Show answer
Loktak lies in the floor of the Manipur valley, which is ringed by hills, so the streams of the valley run inward into it from every side, the classic shape of a centripetal pattern; the lake is also known for its floating phumdis and for Keibul Lamjao, the only floating…
Read the full explanation →The Indus, the Satluj and the Brahmaputra cut deep gorges across the Himalaya because they are older than the present mountains. Such drainage is called
- A.Antecedent drainage
- B.Superimposed drainage
- C.Inland drainage
- D.Deranged drainage
Show answer
These rivers were flowing when the Himalaya was still rising, and instead of being turned aside they cut downward as fast as the land rose, leaving the gorges of the Indus near Gilgit, of the Satluj at Shipki and of the Brahmaputra at the great bend in the Dihang.
Read the full explanation →