Which of the following rivers originates from the Himalayas?

Correct — A. Of the four rivers listed, the Ganga alone rises in the Himalayas — option (a).

Its headstream, the Bhagirathi, emerges from the Gangotri glacier at Gaumukh in Uttarakhand. The river takes the name Ganga at Devprayag, where the Alaknanda joins it.

The remaining three are peninsular rivers of the old plateau: Narmada from Amarkantak, Tapi from Multai in Madhya Pradesh, Godavari from Trimbakeshwar in the Western Ghats.

Why the others are wrong

• (b)
  Narmada — The Narmada rises at Amarkantak in Madhya Pradesh and flows west through a rift valley to the Gulf of Khambhat. Its source is plateau, not mountain snow.
• (c)
  Tapi — The Tapi rises at Multai in the Betul district of Madhya Pradesh and also runs west to the Arabian Sea, parallel to the Narmada and south of the Satpuras.
• (d)
  Godavari — The Godavari rises at Trimbakeshwar near Nashik in the Western Ghats and flows east to the Bay of Bengal. It is the longest peninsular river, but it is not Himalayan.

India's rivers fall into two families, and the split is the whole point of this question.

Himalayan rivers — the Indus, the Ganga, the Brahmaputra and their tributaries — are fed by snow and glaciers, so they flow through the year and cut deep gorges.

Peninsular rivers — the Narmada, Tapi, Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri, Mahanadi — are rain-fed, seasonal, and run in shallow, largely fixed valleys over hard rock.

Direction follows the same divide. Most peninsular rivers flow east into the Bay of Bengal, the exceptions being the west-flowing Narmada, Tapi, Mahi and Sabarmati; the Narmada and Tapi occupy rift valleys.

Key facts

• The Ganga begins as the Bhagirathi at the Gangotri glacier in Uttarakhand.
• The Bhagirathi and the Alaknanda meet at Devprayag, and the river is called Ganga below it.
• The Narmada rises at Amarkantak and the Tapi at Multai, both in Madhya Pradesh.
• The Godavari rises at Trimbakeshwar in the Western Ghats and is the longest peninsular river.

Common traps

• Reading the Godavari as Himalayan because it is the longest peninsular river.
• Assuming any large river must be glacier-fed when the peninsular ones are rain-fed.

No directly related past PYQ was found.