Question.
State the differences between River Basin and the Watershed.
(Chapter-3 Drainage System, Class 11 NCERT geography "India Physical Environment")
Answer.
As we know that the 'catchment area' of a river is the area from where the rainwater flows into the river.
Both the basin and the watershed belong to the catchment areas of the river, however, there is some difference between them.
Following are the differences between a river basin and a watershed;
The catchment areas of a large river and its tributaries are called river basins while the catchment areas of smaller rivers or streams or rivulets are often called watersheds.
River basins are large areas while watersheds are small areas.
A river basin can have many watersheds.
For example, the Ganges river basin includes the watershed areas of the Ganges River and its tributaries (Yamuna, Ramganga, Gandak, Gomti, Kosi, Son, etc.), which include Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Pradesh, includes the regions of Rajasthan, Bihar, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand.
The river basin of Ganga = watershed of Ramganga + watershed of Chambal + watershed of river Gandak + etc.
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