Major Western flowing Rivers of India

Narmada, Tapti (or Tapi), Sabarmati and Mahi are the most important Western flowing rivers of India.

Western flowing rivers of India usually merge into the Arabian Sea (Hence western flowing rivers in India are also called as the rivers falling into or flowing towards the Arabian Sea) which oceanic entity.

• India’s longest Western flowing river, 5^th largest river of the Indian subcontinent is Narmada having the length around 1300 Km. (Note : Rewa is an ancient name of Narmada)
• Western flowing rivers are bereft of deltas whereas Eastern flowing rivers make large deltas on their way to the ocean (This is largely due to the fact that Western flowing rivers pass through many gorges, V-shaped valleys and they are swifter than their Eastern counterparts).

Why they flow towards west ?

There are three main reasons:

1. Gradient of the terrain.
2. Presence of rift valleys.
3. Mountain ranges which deflect rivers.

Apart from these, The West Flowing Rivers Basin consists of all the small independent river basins of peninsular (A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. The surrounding water is usually understood to belong to a single contiguous body, but is not always explicitly defined as such) India lying to the South of Krishna Basin (except Cauvery Basin) draining into the Arabian Sea.

• The basin is located in the South West corner of the peninsular India and covers the areas in the States of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
• Medium and minor river basins in this particular regions are viz., Bhogeshwari, Amba , Kundalika , Ulhas, Kal, Kajavi, Gad, Mandovi/Madei, Aghanashini, Haladi, Sita, Swarna, Gurupur, Netravathi, Payaswani, Valatapatnam, Kuttayadi, Chaliyar, Kadalundi, Bharathapuzha, Chalakudi, Periyar, Muvattupuzha, Meenachil, Pamba, Achankovil, Manimala, Kallada, Vamanapuram, Pazhayar and Tambraparani.

All the rivers originate from the high mountains of the Western Ghats and exhibit similar characteristics. They have steep high banks which rarely overflow or cause floods.

The Indian rivers like Narmada & Tapi flow westwards into the Arabian sea. Their sources are moderately elevated hillocks & ranges like Amarkantak and Satpura.

Important point to be noted :

The distance between these sources and the Arabian sea is also less as compared to the east-flowing rivers. Moreover, the deposition of the sediments and the amount of water in these rivers are also very less. Narmada and Tapi form estuaries.

• It happened the whole Peninsula was affected lil bit but damaged were created when the Himalayas in the Tethys Sea arose.
• The Narmada and the Tapi began to flow in these trough faults. As the slope of these faults was westward, the rivers flowed towards the west. In fact many faults were created and rivers filled them with their sediments.
• The rivers descending the Western Ghats in the west have a steep slope. These rivers have created a large number of physical features.
• However, When these rivers meet the sea, waves and currents take away the sediment brought by the rivers. This is why these rivers do not make Deltas. (Delta Meaning : A river delta is a landform that forms from deposition of sediment carried by a river as the flow leaves its mouth and enters slower-moving or standing water. This occurs where a river enters an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, or (more rarely) another river that cannot transport away the supplied sediment).