Rivers that flow thorough rift valley in India are: Narmada river, Tapti, Mahi (all flowing west), Damodar river in Chota Nagpur plateau.

Narmada is the largest west flowing river of the peninsular India. Narmada flows westwards through a rift valley between the Vindhyan Range on the north and the Satpura Range on the south.

There seem to be two rain-bearing systems in India.
1-in the Bay of Bengal causing rainfall over the plains of north India.
2- the Arabian Sea current of the south- west monsoon which brings rain to the west coast of India. Much of the rainfall along the Western Ghats is orographic as the moist air is obstructed and forced to rise along the Ghats. The intensity of rainfall over the west coast of India is, however, related to two factors:

1. The offshore meteorological conditions.
2. The position of the equatorial jet stream along the eastern coast of Africa.

Types of Drainage Patterns
The three main types of drainage patterns that can be identified are dendritic, trellised and radial. The disappearing streams indicate an area of inland drainage as in deserts or underground streams such as those in the limestone areas. Broken ground is also shown with black lines and found in ravines and badlands where lack of vegetation causes extensive erosion when the rivers flood.

Dendritic drainage pattern: The name is derived from the Greek word dendron which means a 'tree'. This drainage pattern is similar to a branching tree and hence the name. This pattern of flow of streams and rivers develops in an area which comprises rocks with a uniform structure. The direction taken by the river and its tributaries is largely dependent on the slope. The water channels thus flow through the valleys between the ridges and spurs resulting in the river and its tributaries making a pattern that resembles a tree and its branches.

Trellised drainage pattern: It is a rectangular shaped drainage pattern that develops where bands of rocks vary in resistance. In some areas there are alternate bands of hard and soft rocks. The flowing water can erode the soft rocks and thus flows along the bands of soft rock. Many such water channels form a trellis. The streams (called subsequent rivers) cut out the valleys (called vales) and join the main river (called consequent river) at right angles. The main river, by sheer force, cuts the hard rock and flows down the slope forming an escarpment and thus a river gap is created.

Radial drainage pattern: It is a 'spoke- like' pattern. Water channels flow from around the top if a hill or the top of a dome type feature in numerous directions like the spokes of a wheel. Such a pattern of drainage may develop from a volcano or conical mountain.

There are a few other drainage patterns as well, which are uncommon. The centripetal drainage pattern is the opposite of radial drainage pattern. The streams converge in an area which is either a depression or a basin.

In a parallel drainage pattern, a number of streams flow parallel to each other by following the slope of the region.

Western Ghats

• The Western Ghats are also known as <i>Sahyadri</i> in certain parts of India.
• They run parallel to the western coast of India.
• Since they are continuous without any major breaks, hence it is very difficult to pass through them. Although this difficulty has been reduced in the present times due to the advanced transport technology, however in the olden days, it was definitely a huge task to pass the ghats and get onto the opposite side.
• However, the western ghats do have passes such as the <i>Bhor ghat, Pal ghat, and Thal ghat</i> which makes it possible to travel through the western ghats despite the fact that they are continuous.
• Although most of the peninsular rivers drain into the Bay of Bengal, their origin point is the western ghats.
• Important rivers such as the <i>Tungabhadra, the Krishna, the Godavari</i> have their origin point in the western ghats.
• It must be noted that the western ghats of India play a very important role in the distribution of the monsoon rainfall on the western border of India.
• It causes the orographic rainfall due to which the windward side of the mountains receives a lot of rainfall, however, the leeward side remains dry.
• The western ghats consist of evergreen forests too, however, the main crop grown there is the Coffee.
• Anaimudi is the highest peak of the peninsular plateau and is located on the Anaimalai Hills of the Western Ghats.
• The highest peak in the Western Ghats is Anaimudi and its elevation is 2695 meters or 8842 ft. It is known as Everest of South India. The name Anaimudi translates as Elephant’s head. It is located at the border of Ernakulam and Idukki District of Kerala.

Eastern Ghats

• The eastern ghats run parallel to the eastern coastal plains of India.
• Unlike the western ghats, they are discontinuous in nature and is dissected by the rivers that drain into the Bay of Bengal. As discussed above, most of these rivers have their origin in the western ghats.
• It must be noted that the eastern ghats are lower in elevation than the western ghats.
• The highest peak of Eastern Ghats is the Jindhagada peak (1690 meters). It is also known as Arma Konda or Sitamma Konda.
• The difference in the elevation levels of the highest peaks in both the ghats can also be compared. Jindaghara of eastern ghats is of 1690 mts. This gives us a fair idea of the differences in elevation levels of the hills in both the ghats.
• The main crop produced in the eastern ghats is Rice, which is also the staple food of the people living in the region.

An earthquake is a sudden shaking (or trembling) of the earth which lasts for a very short time. An earthquake is caused by the violent movements of rocks deep inside the earth’s crust.
Earthquakes can cause immense damage to houses, other buildings, bridges, dams and people, etc. A lot of people get killed when they get buried under the debris of collapsed houses and other buildings during an earthquake. Earthquakes can also cause floods, landslides, and tsunamis.

There are four different types of earthquakes: Tectonic, volcanic, collapse and explosion.

• A tectonic earthquake is one that occurs when the earth's crust breaks due to geological forces on rocks and adjoining plates that cause physical and chemical changes.
• A volcanic earthquake is any earthquake that results from tectonic forces which occur in conjunction with volcanic activity.
• A collapse earthquake are small earthquakes in underground caverns and mines that are caused by seismic waves produced from the explosion of rock on the surface.
• An explosion earthquake is an earthquake that is the result of the detonation of a nuclear and/or chemical device.