Which of the following is the longest river?

Question

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — D, Godavari. At about 1,465 km the Godavari is the longest of the four and the longest river of peninsular India — long enough to have earned the name Dakshina Ganga, the Ganga of the South, and to be the longest river flowing entirely within India (the Ganga is longer overall but leaves the country). It rises at Trimbakeshwar in the Brahmagiri hills of Nashik district, Maharashtra, runs east across the Deccan through Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and reaches the Bay of Bengal through a wide delta below Rajahmundry. Its basin, about 3.13 lakh sq km, is also the largest of any peninsular river.

Why the other options are wrong — (a) About 1,312 km — India's longest west-flowing river and Madhya Pradesh's lifeline, rising at Amarkantak and entering the Gulf of Khambhat through an estuary. Long, but roughly 150 km short of the Godavari.  (b) About 800 km — the shortest of the four. It rises at Talakaveri in Kodagu, Karnataka, and reaches the Bay of Bengal in Tamil Nadu; its fame in water-sharing disputes has nothing to do with its length.  (c) About 1,400 km — second longest here and the closest competitor. It rises near Mahabaleshwar in the Western Ghats of Maharashtra and also drains into the Bay of Bengal, but it is roughly 65 km shorter than the Godavari.

Concept: Peninsular rivers are geologically old, largely rain-fed and flow in shallow, well-adjusted valleys. Most run east into the Bay of Bengal — Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, Cauvery, Pennar — because the Western Ghats form the main water divide close to the west coast. The exceptions are the Narmada and the Tapi, which flow west into the Arabian Sea through rift valleys. By length the peninsular order is Godavari (about 1,465 km), Krishna (about 1,400), Narmada (about 1,312), Mahanadi (about 851), Cauvery (about 800) and Tapi (about 724).

State PCS 2025 Q80 — Geography PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2025 Q80 — Geography PYQ with Answer