Indus River system

Indus River system

Question:- Write about the Indus river system.

- Being the 12th largest river in the world, the Indus originates near lake Manasarovar which is to the north of the Himalayan range. The glaciers act as natural reservoirs that provide perennial supplies to the Indus and some of its tributaries.

- The Indus river system forms a link between two large natural reservoirs, the glaciers and the groundwater accumulated in the alluvium of the Indus plains of the Sindh and Punjab Provinces of Pakistan.

- The Indus river has two main tributaries, the Kabul on the right bank and the Panjnad on the left.

- The Panjnad is a result of five main rivers- the western rivers, Jhelum and Chenab with the Indus river, and the eastern rivers, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej.

- The water dispute in 1960 gave rise to this settlement with the Indus Water Treaty.

- All the rivers of the Indus system are perennial; aided by a number of smaller rivers and streams these rivers supply water to the entire Indus Basin Irrigation System.

- The Sutlej river originates in Western Tibet in the Kailas mountain range and near the source of the rivers Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra. It flows into Pakistan near Ferozepur and eventually joins the Chenab river close to Punjnad barrage. The Sutlej river has eight major tributaries and the largest is the Beas river.

- The origin of Ravi is in the lesser Himalayas range in India and flows along the India Pakistan border. The Ravi river has five major tributaries namely Ujh, Bein, Basantar, Deg and Hudiara streams of which Deg is the largest tributory.

- The confluence of Bhaga and Chandra rivers forms the Chenab, which joins at a place called Tandi. Its uppermost part is covered with snow and forms the northeast part of Himachal Pradesh. The river has twelve major tributaries; Doara, Dowara, Halsi, Bhimber, Palku and Budhi join close to Marala.
The Jhelum river originates in the Kashmir Valley and has ten major tributaries.

Thus as mentioned, Indus is shared between four countries and then it meets Arabian sea near Karachi. However, the rough terrains surrounding the river in China and Afghanistan do not let them develop the river within their border. Pakistan and India are the two major countries dependent on Indus water flow. The 1960 agreement of Indus Water Treaty was based on the river giving the right of three eastern tributaries- Ravi, Beas and Sutlej to India and western tributaries- Jhelum, Chenab, Indus to Pakistan. Sustainable river basin management is required for the prosperity and regional stability and this depends cooperation of the two countries.