1..The Ganga River System

The Ganga is the most important river of India both from the point of view of its basin and cultural significance. It rises from the Gangotri glacier near Gaumukh (3,900 m) in the Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand. Here, it is known as the Bhagirathi. It cuts through the Central and the Lesser Himalayas in narrow gorges. At Devprayag, the Bhagirathi meets the Alaknanda; then after, it is known as the Ganga. The Alaknanda has its source in the Satopanth glacier above Badrinath. The Alaknanda consists of the Dhauli and the Vishnu Ganga which meet at Joshimath or Vishnu Prayag. The other tributaries of Alaknanda such as the Pindar join it at Karna Prayag while Mandakini or Kali Ganga meets it at Rudra Prayag. The Ganga enters the plains at Haridwar.From Haridwar, it flows first to the south, then to the south-east and east before splitting into two distributaries, namely the Bhagirathi and the Hugli. The river has a length of 2,525 km. It is shared by Uttarakhand (110 km) and Uttar Pradesh (1,450 km), Bihar (445 km) and West Bengal (520 km). The Ganga basin covers about 8.6 lakh sq. km area in India alone. The Ganga river system is the largest in India having a number of perennial and non-perennial rivers originating in the Himalayas in the north and the Peninsula in the south, respectively.

2...NARMADA BASIN

The total basin area of the river is 97,410 square kilometer comprising 85,858 square kilometer in Madhya Pradesh, 1658 square kilometer in Maharashtra and 9894 square kilometer in Gujarat. The drainage area up to dam site is 88,000 square kilometer. The mean annual rainfall in the basin is 112 centimeters.The total basin area of the river is 97,410 square kilometer comprising 85,858 square kilometer in Madhya Pradesh, 1658 square kilometer in Maharashtra and 9894 square kilometer in Gujarat. The drainage area up to dam site is 88,000 square kilometer. The mean annual rainfall in the basin is 112 centimeters. The annual run of the dam site at 75 percentage of dependability is 27.22 MAF. The World Bank computed the yield of 28.57 MAF while the yield computed in May 1992 by the Central Water Commission, Government of India is of 26.60 MAF, i.e. about 27.00 MAF. The utilisation of Narmada River basin today is hardly about 10%. Thus water of the Narmada continue to flow to the sea unsued.

3....The Krishna River is the fourth-greatest waterway as far as water inflows and stream bowl region in India, after the Ganga, Godavari, and Brahmaputra. The stream is just about 1,300 kilometers (810 mi) long. The stream is additionally called Krishnaveni. It is a noteworthy wellspring of water system for Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra PradeshKrishna RiverThe Krishna is the second largest east flowing river of the Peninsula.The Krishna Basin extends over Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka having a total area of ~2.6 lakh Sq.km.It is bounded byBalaghat rangeon the north, by the Eastern Ghats on the south and the east and by the Western Ghats on the west.The Krishna River rises from theWestern GhatsnearJor village of Satara district of Maharashtraat an altitude of 1,337 m just north ofMahabaleshwar.The total length of river from origin to its outfall into the Bay of Bengal is 1,400 km.The major part of basin is covered with agricultural land accounting to 75.86% of the total area.The Krishna forms a large delta with a shoreline of about 120 km. The Krishna delta appears to merge with that formed by the Godavari and extends about 35 km into the sea.

-Kaveri River, Kaveri also spelledCauvery, sacred river of southernIndia. It rises on Brahmagiri Hill of the WesternGhatsin southwesternKarnatakastate, flows in a southeasterly direction for 475 miles (765 km) through the states of Karnataka andTamil Nadu, and descends the EasternGhatsin a series of great falls.Before emptying into theBay of Bengalsouth ofCuddalore, Tamil Nadu, the river breaks into a large number of distributaries forming a wide delta called the “garden of southern India.” Known to devout Hindus as DakshinaGanga(“Ganges of the South”), the Kaveri River is celebrated for its scenery and sanctity inTamil literature, and its entire course is considered holy ground. The river is also important for its irrigation canal projects.