Tapi river
Also called: Tapti · Topic: Drainage System of India: Rivers, Basins and Patterns · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 3 "Drainage System"
Meaning
The Tapi river (also spelt Tapti) is a west-flowing Peninsular river. It rises at Multai in Betul district, Madhya Pradesh, and flows about 724 km to the Arabian Sea. It flows in a rift valley (a long, sunken valley between faults) between the Satpura range and the Ajanta–Satmala hills. Its basin of 65,145 sq km lies mostly in Maharashtra (79%), with smaller parts in Madhya Pradesh (15%) and Gujarat (6%). Like the Narmada, it ends in an estuary, not a delta.
Example
The Tapi reaches the Arabian Sea near Surat in Gujarat. Ocean tides scour its wide mouth there, so silt cannot pile up to form a delta.
Don't confuse with
- Narmada river: this is the larger rift-valley river, running between the Vindhyas and the Satpura. The Tapi lies further south, between the Satpura and the Ajanta–Satmala hills.
- East-flowing Peninsular rivers: rivers like the Godavari and Krishna flow to the Bay of Bengal and build deltas. The Tapi flows west and forms an estuary.
Related concepts
- Narmada river
- Marble Rocks and Dhuandhar Falls
- Narmada and Tapi as west-flowing rivers
- West-flowing rivers of the Peninsula
- Jog Falls
- Luni river
- Inland drainage