Which Glacier Feeds Which River: The Master Table
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This is the single most classically tested pairing in the entire topic, so it gets its own consolidated table rather than staying scattered across the glacier entries above.
| Glacier | Immediate River | Major River System |
|---|---|---|
| Gangotri | Bhagirathi | Ganga |
| Yamunotri | Yamuna | Ganga (via Yamuna, which joins the Ganga at Prayagraj) |
| Zemu | Teesta | Brahmaputra |
| Pindari | Pindar | Ganga (via Alaknanda) |
| Milam | Goriganga | Kali/Sharda → Ganga |
| Bara Shigri / Chhota Shigri | Chandra | Chenab (Indus system) |
| Siachen | Nubra | Shyok → Indus |
| Machoi | Sind (one face) / Dras-Suru (other face) | Jhelum / Indus |
| Kolahoi | Lidder | Jhelum → Indus |
| Drang-Drung | Doda → Suru | Indus |
| Satopanth | (feeds the upper Alaknanda) | Ganga |
| Chorabari | Mandakini | Ganga (via Alaknanda) |
Memory hook: "Ganga has three glacier feeders in this table (Gangotri, Yamunotri via the Yamuna, Pindari/Milam via the Alaknanda-Kali system) — the Ganga collects from more glaciers than any other system here, which is exactly why it's the river this whole topic circles back to most often."
Practice Recall: Without looking, fill in the "Major River System" column for Zemu, Bara Shigri, and Siachen.
Answer: Zemu → Brahmaputra (via Teesta). Bara Shigri → Chenab, part of the Indus system (via the Chandra). Siachen → Indus (via the Nubra and Shyok).
Zooming out: three river systems, three glacier clusters, three pass clusters. It is worth stepping back from individual pairings to see the whole picture this book has been building toward. The Indus system (fed by Siachen, Drang-Drung, and the Shigri glaciers via the Chenab and other tributaries) is associated with the Ladakh and Karakoram passes — Khardung La, Chang La, Zoji La, Baralacha La — and with peaks like Saltoro Kangri and Saser Kangri. The Ganga system (fed by Gangotri, Yamunotri, Satopanth, Chorabari, Pindari, and Milam) is associated with the Uttarakhand passes — Mana, Niti, Lipulekh, Kuari — and with peaks like Nanda Devi, Kamet, and Trisul. The Brahmaputra system (fed by Zemu in Sikkim, and by the Arunachal river network more broadly) is associated with the Sikkim and Arunachal passes — Nathu La, Jelep La, Se La, Bum La, Pangsau — and, at its western edge, with Kangchenjunga itself. Once this three-way grouping is visible, an unfamiliar name in any of the three categories (a peak, a pass, or a glacier) can usually be placed into the correct river system and region by association alone, even without having memorised that specific name directly — a genuine safety net for the inevitable exam question that names something this book didn't cover verbatim.