General Knowledge for SSC Exams (Important Rivers)

Name	Origin from	Falls into	Length (km)
Ganga	Combined Sources	Bay of Bengal	2525
Satluj	Mansarovar Rakas Lakes	Chenab	1050
Indus	Near Mansarovar Lake	Arabain Sea	2880
Ravi	Kullu Hills near Rohtang Pass	Chenab	720
Beas	Near Rohtang Pass	Satluj	470
Jhelum	Verinag in Kashmir	Chenab	725
Yamuna	Yamunotri	Ganga	1375
Chambal	M.P.	Yamuna	1050
Ghagra	Matsatung Glacier	Ganga	1080
Kosi	Near Gosain Dham Peak	Ganga	730
Betwa	Vindhyanchal	Yamuna	480
Sone	Amarkantak	Ganga	780
Brahmaputra	Near Mansarovar Lake	Bay of Bengal	2900
Narmada	Amarkantak	Gulf of Khambat	1057
Tapti	Betul Distt. In M.P.	Gulf of Khambat	724
Mahanadi	Raipur Distt. In Chhattisgarh	Bay of Bengal	858
Luni	Aravallis	Rann of Kuchchh	450
Ghaggar	Himalayas	Near Fatehabad	494
Sabarmati	Aravallis	Gulf of Khambat	416
Krishna	Western Ghats	Bay of Bengal	1327
Godavari	Nasik distt. In Maharashtra	Bay of Bengal	1465
Cauvery	Brahmagir of Western Ghats	Bay of Bengal	805
Tungabhadra	Western Ghats	Krishna river	640

THE CLIMATE

The Indian Meteorological Department recognizes four seasons, namely:

1. Winter (December-March)
2. Summer (April-May)
3. Monsoon (June-September)
4. Season of retreating south-west monsoon (October-November)

The climate of India is monsoon-type, fed by two rain bearing winds, viz:

1. The South-west Monsoon (June September): The south-west mo-nsoons contribute 86 per cent of the total rainfall in India. They open on the west coast around beginning of June and continue till September with a declining trend as they move inland.

2. The North-east Monsoon (November-December): These are also called winter monsoons and are continued to a smaller area, particularly the east coast. It is Tamil Nadu’s major monsoon.
Regions of Heavy Rainfall (above 200 cm)

1. Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Sikkim and northern parts of West Bengal
2. The Western Ghats
3. The Himalayan slopes

Regions of Scanty Rainfall (below 50 cm)

1. Kutch and Western Rajasthan
2. Southern Haryana, South-east Punjab and Ladakh Forests

Forest

Area Covered: According to State of Forests Report 2005, the total forest cover of the country as per 2005 assessment is 6,77,088 km’ and this constitutes 20.60 per cent of the total geographic area of the country.
The National Forest Policy has laid down a target of raising the area covered by forests in India to nearly 33.3 per cent. State having maximum proportion of its:

Geographical area under dense forest cover —Arunachal Pradesh
State having lowest area under forest cover—Haryana
State having largest area under forest cover —Madhya Pradesh

Type of Forests

1. Evergreen Forests (Tropical): Found in areas where rainfall ranges between 200 and 300 cm, e.g., Western Ghats and sub-Himalayan regions. These are coniferous forests with trees having needle-shaped leaves and provide teak, rosewood, ebony and bamboo.

2. Deciduous Forests (Monsoon Forests): Found in areas having rainfall between 150 and 200 cm, e.g., parts of Deccan Plateau stretching across Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. They provide fine timber such as teak, sal. sandalwood, etc.

3. Dry Forests: Found in desert regions of Rajasthan and south of Punjab, where rainfall is below 75-100 cm.

4. Hill Forests: Found in southern India and in the Himalayan regions and provide timber. Oak, deodar, pines, chir, are major trees found in these forests.

5. Tidal Forests (Mangrove): Found in coastal plains which are generally submerged, particularly on river deltas on the east coast (Ganga, Mahanadi, Godavari). The forests on the Gangetic delta in Bengal are called Sunderbans after the Sundari trees found in these forests.

Agriculture

About 65 per cent-70 per cent of people in India are engaged in agriculture. About 142.42 million hectares, or just above 50 per cent of the total geographical area of the country is under cultivation.