Page 14 - SST Class 04

Sutlej River

The Sutlej River is, in fact, a tributary of the Indus River , which flows in Pakistan, so
we shall study only the Sutlej. A tributary is a river which joins a larger river or lake.
The four other tributaries of the Indus are the Beas , the Ravi , the Chenab and the
Jhelum . These five tributaries flow through India and join the Indus River (in Pakistan)
before emptying into the Arabian Sea .

The Sutlej basin begins from the westernmost part of the northern plains, located in the
states of Punjab and Haryana.

Know It!

v Our rivers in the northern plains have become very polluted. The Namami
Gange Project has been started to clean the Ganga and its tributaries.

Ganga River

It is after the names of the Indus and the Ganga that northern plains are also called the
Indo-Gangetic plains . In India, the Ganga River remains the most important river. It is
the longest river in India. It rises at the Gangotri Glacier in the Himalayas. It enters the
plains at Haridwar and flows through the states of Uttarakhand , Uttar Pradesh , Bihar
and West Bengal .

During its course, the Ganga is joined by a number of tributaries. Its important
tributaries are the Bhagirathi , the Alaknanda and the Mandakini . After it enters the
plains, the Ganga is joined by the Yamuna , the Gomti , the Ghaghra , the Gandak and
the Kosi from the north and the Son from the south.
Know It!
In its lower course, the Ganga splits into two : the
v The Ganga is considered a
Hooghli and the Padma . The Hooghli flows through
sacred river by the Hindus, who
West Bengal and the Padma flows through Bangladesh. worship it as Ganga Mata.
Both these branches fall into the Bay of Bengal.

Yamuna River

The Yamuna River is an important river, so it deserves a special mention. It drains a
large part of the northern plains. It rises in the Yamunotri glacier and flows through
the states of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh before joining the Ganga at Prayagraj . The
Yamuna is a tributary of the Ganga, but it has its tributaries too, the important ones of
which are the Chambal , the Sind , the Betwa and the Ken .

14 Contemporary Social Science-4