Question

Arrange the Indian River basin in descending order of the area:
A. Ganga
B. Godavari
C. Indus
D. Krishna

• A. A, C, B, D
• B. A, B, C, D
• C. A, C, D, B
• D. C, B, A, D

Hint:

In India, the Ganga is always #1 in area. For peninsular rivers, the order is Godavari > Krishna > Mahanadi > Cauvery.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

Concept: A river basin is the portion of land drained by a river and its tributaries. In India, these are classified by size. "Descending order" means starting from the largest drainage area.

Step 1: Identifying the Largest Basin.
The Ganga (A) basin is by far the largest in India, covering approximately 25% of the country's total land area (~8.6 lakh sq km).

Step 2: Comparing the others.

• Indus (C): While much of the Indus is in Pakistan, its basin area *within* India is the second largest among these options (~3.2 lakh sq km).
• Godavari (B): Known as the "Dakshin Ganga," it is the largest peninsular river basin (~3.1 lakh sq km).
• Krishna (D): The second-largest peninsular river basin (~2.5 lakh sq km).

Step 3: Sequencing.
The descending order of basin area is Ganga > Indus > Godavari > Krishna.