Rivers of India Quiz for Experts | Asia

Answer: Brahmaputra

The Brahmaputra is the strongest river in India and is the lifeline of many farmers in the northeast who depend on it for irrigation of their crops. Steamers can travel up the river from its mouth in Bangladesh to Dibrugarh in northeast Assam.

Answer: Narmada

There is major dispute going on about a dam that has been built on this river, the Sardar Sarovar Project. This dam was built to provide water to the cities of Gujarat at the expense of drowning several tribal villages in Maharashtra and Gujarat. There are a number of activists fighting for the rights of the tribals, a dynamic woman named Medha Patkar being at the centre stage.

The Booker Prize winning novelist, Arundhati Roy, is also participating in the agitations.

Answer: Luni

It rises in the western Aravallis, flows southwest through the Thar desert, before dissipating in the Rann of Kachchh, a large, salty marsh between northern Gujarat and Pakistan. It is very saline and is the primary resource for irrigation in Rajasthan.

Answer: Yamuna

At the Ganga-Yamuna confluence, the mass of the Yamuna is much greater than that of the Ganga, yet the daughter river takes the name of the Ganga.

Answer: Mandovi (Mandavi)

The Mandovi River, also known as Gomati, has its origin at Bhimgad in the Sahyadri range of the Western Ghats. It enters Goa from the north and flows for 77 kilometres in the state.

Answer: Kaveri (Cauveri)

The Kaveri River has been the centre of a long-lasting enmity between the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Both of the states receive deficient rainfall so hence the need for irrigation by this river. The dispute raging between the states is about how much water Karnataka should release from its dam to Tamil Nadu.

This has been the cause of many hunger strikes and clashes, and the situation had become so acute that the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu told the farmers of her state to switch from the crops they had been sowing for generations to more water efficient crops.

Answer: Ganga (Ganges)

Also called Bhagirathi (after the sage who is believed to have brought it down from the heavens), Sursuri, and Devnadi, the Ganga is the prime water bearer of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, which comprises most of north India. Unfortunately, the river has become very polluted, thanks to industrial waste, sewage and religious 'offerings' of plastic bags filled with flowers.

Hence, India's supposedly 'purest' river has now become the dirtiest.

Answer: Chenab, Ravi, Beas, Jhelum, Sutlej

The Chenab, Ravi, Beas, Jhelum, and Sutlej are the 'Five Rivers of the Punjab' and are responsible for feeding the crops of the Punjab region of India and Pakistan. These rivers help the Indian state of Punjab have a very high productivity level in the agricultural sector, and are the reason for it being self-sufficient with the staple cereal, i.e. wheat. All these rivers ultimately meet the Indus River which originates near Mansarovar Lake in Tibet, close to the source of the Brahmaputra.

Answer: Tapi (Tapti)

The Vaigai, Mahanadi, and the Godavari all flow eastward, emptying themselves into the Bay of Bengal. The Narmada and the Tapi (which is also called 'Tapti' by some Indians) are the only major rivers of India which empty into the Arabian Sea.

Answer: Bangladesh

Both the Ganga and the Brahmaputra (which has, by then, changed its name to 'Jamuna'), meet in Bangladesh to form a larger river named the 'Padma'. This river forms a vast delta called the Sunderbans. Measuring 354 kilometres wide and 16,902 square kilometres in area, it makes the soil in Bangladesh very fertile but is also prone to frequent flooding.

The delta was struck by one of history's most devastating cyclones in 1970.