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Brahmaputra it is one of the biggest and most important river of the world. It is a major river of Asia. The Brahmaputra originates at a place 30o31’N latitude and 80o80’E longitude, near the upper waters of the Indus and Sutlej, and a little to the east of the Mansarovar Lake in Tibet between the Kailash range and the Himalayan range lying at an altitude of 5150m. It is a Trans-boundary river. A Trans-boundary river is a river which touches an international boundary. It does not only touch an international boundary, it also travels through different country. From its origin the Brahmaputra travels through three different countries before it merges in to the Sea. Brahmaputra river travels almost 29, 00 Km from the point of its origin to the point where it merges in to the Bay of Bangel at Bangladesh. While most Indian and Bangladeshi rivers bear female names, this river has a rare male name. Brahmaputra as it means “Son of Brahma”, Where Brahma is one of the GOD of Hindu and “Putra” means Son. Actually the native inhabitants, i.e., the Bodo’s called the river as “Bhullam-buthur”, which means “making a gurgling sound”, later Sanskritized into Brahmaputra.
As the river travels through different regions of different countries, it has different names in different languages. In the source region the river is known as Matsang Tsangpo or Tamchok Khambab. Further downstream, it is known as Tsangpo (means purifier). After flowing about 1700 km in Tibet, the river enters into Arunachal Pradesh of India near Korba by the name of Siang through deep gorges, rapids and cascades. Here in Arunachal Pradesh three tributaries join with Siang. After flowing about 200 Km in hilly areas it appears in the plain near Pasighat and here it takes the name as Dihang. Then it enters in Assam where it meets the Dibang from the North and the Lohit from the East near Kobo. From this tri-junction, the river assumes a gigantic size and takes the name of the Brahmaputra.
In Assam: -
Here in Assam a large number of tributaries originating from the Lower range of Himalayas, Nagaland hill, Patkai range and Meghahalaya join the Brahmaputra after traversing through the basin. Brahmaputra is the only river in the world which receives more than thirty tributaries throughout its length. Due to joining of the tributaries, the Brahmaputra transform into much bigger size towards the downstream. Due to its gigantic size Brahmaputra never flow through the same area. In recent study it has comes to clear that in the last thirty years the Brahmaputra shifted almost 1 to 10 km in some places from its original flowing area.
All the tributaries of the valley are rainfed and from up with rain. The precipitation here is mainly due to South West monsoon. Heave precipitation here from June to September. All those tributaries experience number of flood waves as per rainfall in respective catchment but have very nominal impact. If the flood of the tributaries co-insides With the flood of the Brahmaputra it causes severe problem and devestation. The tributaries namely Subansiri, Ranganadi, Dikrong, Buroi, Borgong, Jiabharali, Dhinsiri [North], Puthimari, Manas, Beki, Aie, Sonkosh are the main tributaries on the North while the Noadehing ,Buridehing, Desang, Dikhow, Bhogdoi, Dhansiri[South], kopili, Kulshi, Krishnai, Dudhnai, Jinjirana are main on the South Bank of the river Brahmaputra.
The meteorological conditions in catchment of Brahmaputra in Tibet and in India are different and lie in different climate Zones. The mean annual rainfall over the entire catchment including Tibet and Bhutan is about 2500mm. The rainfall in Brahmaputra basin is mainly due to South West monsoon and out of total annual rainfall, 85% occurs during the monsoon months from May to September, besides the valley gets a good amount of rainfall in the month of April and May due to thunderstorm activities which account for flood during heavy rain in June, When the soil is already saturated and river bank in full stage.
The tributaries of the Brahmaputra for most of their length drain the steep slope of the Himalayas to the south where rainfall is heavy. Consequently they not only carry heavy runoff, particularly where slopes are denuded of forest, but also very large volume of detritus, the result of excessive soil erosion, to risen the land surface in the plains by bank spill. The major portion of the heavily silt laden floodwaters carried to the Brahmaputra not only aggravates its flood congestion, but also adds to the silt charge of the river.
