drainage system towards the Bay of Bengal during the same period. River Systems of the Peninsular Drainage There are a large number of river systems in the Peninsular drainage. A brief account of the major Peninsular river systems is given below: The Mahanadi rises near Sihawa in Raipur district of Chhattisgarh and runs through Odisha to discharge its water into the Bay of Bengal. It is km long and its catchment area spreads over .
lakh sq. km. Some navigation is carried on in the lower course of this river. Fifty three per cent of the drainage basin of this river lies in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, while per cent lies in Odisha.
The Godavari is the largest Peninsular river system. It is also called the Dakshin Ganga. It rises in the Nasik district of Maharashtra and discharges its water into the Bay of Bengal. Its tributaries run through the states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.
It is , km long with a catchment area spreading over . lakh sq. km per cent of this, lies in Maharashtra, per cent in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, and the rest in Andhra Pradesh. The Penganga, the Indravati, the Pranhita, and the Manjra are its principal tributaries.
The Godavari is subjected to heavy floods in its lower reaches to the south of Polavaram, where it forms a picturesque gorge. It is navigable only in the deltaic stretch. The river after Rajamundri splits into several branches forming a large delta. The Krishna is the second largest east- flowing Peninsular river which rises near Mahabaleshwar in Sahyadri.
Its total length is , km. The Koyna, the Tungbhadra and the Bhima are its major tributaries. Of the total catchment area of the Krishna, per cent lies in Maharashtra, per cent in Karnataka and per cent in Andhra Pradesh. The Kaveri rises in Brahmagiri hills ( ,341m) of Kogadu district in Karnataka.
Its length is km and it drains an area of , sq. km. Since the upper catchment area receives rainfall during the southwest monsoon