Question

Which is the longest river in India?
(a) Brahmaputra
(b) Ganga
(c) Yamuna
(d) Narmada

Answer 1

Hint: This river has a lot of Holy Places on its banks throughout its journey, right from the origin. A lot of historical and mythological tales are known to be associated with this river.

Complete answer:
We have over 400 major river systems in India; rivers, as we all are well aware of, are a major source of water and irrigation for the people of India. The silt deposited on the banks of the river, makes the soil highly fertile and excellent for crop production.
For the answer to the question, let us analyse all the given alternatives one by one.
Option (a), Brahmaputra, is a trans-boundary river which flows through Tibet, India and Bangladesh. It is the ninth largest river in the world. Since it is not a river belonging majorly to India, as the length is 916 km out of total 3848 km, Option ‘a’ is the incorrect answer.
Option (b), Ganga has a total length of 2704 km of which 120 km belongs to Bangladesh. This river originates from the Gangotri Glacier of western Himalayas in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, and flows south and east through the Gangetic Plain of India and Bangladesh, eventually emptying into the Bay of Bengal.
Option (c), Yamuna, as we know is a tributary of river Ganga, meeting at Prayagraj. The length of this river is 1376 km.
And lastly, option (d), Narmada, flows westwards over a length of 1,312 km before draining through the Gulf of Khambhat into the Arabian Sea.
With these explanations, we deduce that option b, Ganga is the correct answer.

Note: We have been asked which is the longest river in India, so we must remember that the river has to be majorly a part of India and not a major part of the Indian subcontinent with a section in India.