Major River basins of India

India is home to some of the most dynamic rivers of the world. Thanks to the high mountain ranges, importantly the glacier-laden Himalayas and several other mighty mountain chains of the country. The vigour of these rivers is also heavily influenced by the Monsoon controlled rain system. As a result, many of the river basins of India are under water stress conditions with both recurrent floods and droughts. The water resources of India drain from 19 major river basins with catchment areas of most of the rivers are in the high mountain ranges (Upali et al in Amarasinghe et al (Eds) 2004). For example, the Himalayas, on the north are the source of 16 major rivers, including the mighty Brahmaputra, Yamuna and Ganga. The famous Indus, Sutlej, Ravi, Beas, and Jhelum rivers are mainly fed by the Pir Panjal Range on the north-west Himalayas. The Purvanchal range or eastern Himalayan mountain range drains the river Jadhaka, or Dichu, a tributary of Brahmaputra. The rivers Narmada and Tapti originates from the Vindhya and Satpura rift valley. The Aravalli mountain- range in north-western India exhaust three major rivers- Banas, Sahibi, and Luni. Western Ghats is among the four large watersheds of India feeding the east flowing major rivers namely Godavari (the second longest river after Ganges), Kaveri, Thamiraparani, and Tungabhadra, Periyar, Bharathapuzha, Pampa, Netravati, Sharavati, Kali, Mandovi and Zuari rivers . The Eastern Ghats drains two larger rivers, Krishna and Mahanadi and the Godavari and Kaveri are enriched by the streams of these hillocks. India being a rich biome of diverse ecosystems is enriched with innumerable rivers and perennial streams.