Drainage

Drainage’ is a term signifying the river system of an area. A drainage basin or river basin is an area w’hich is drained by a single river system. An upland that separates two drainage systems that are next to each other is called a water divide. On the basis of origin, there are two river systems of India — The Himalayan rivers and the Peninsular rivers. Himalayan rivers are rainfed and snowfed, so they have w?ater in them throughout the year, i.e., they are perennial and thus navigable. Himalayan rivers create meanders, oxbow lakes and other depositional features on their course. Peninsular rivers are seasonal; mostly depending on rainfall and thus non-navigable. Most of the rivers of peninsular India originate in the Western Ghats and flow’ towards the Bay of Bengal.