The Indus Basin

1. The Indus Basin is formed by the Indus and its tributaries.

2. It is located in the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab.

3. The Indus flows over 2900 kms in length. Other important rivers of this basin are Satluj, Beas, Ravi, Chenab and Jhelum.

4. The highland (commonly known as Ambala- Saharanpur water divide) separates the Basin from the Ganga Basin. Rivers flow in this Basin from north-west to south-west.

5. This Basin has fertile land and a dense network of canals for irrigation.

Indus River, Tibetan and Sanskrit Sindhu, Sindhi Sindhu, or Mehran, great trans-Himalayan river of South Asia. It is one of the longest rivers in the world, with a length of some 1,800 miles (2,900 km). Its total drainage area is about 450,000 square miles (1,165,000 square km), of which 175,000 square miles (453,000 square km) lie in the Himalayan ranges and foothills and the rest in the semiarid plains of Pakistan. The river’s annual flow is about 272 billion cubic yards (207 billion cubic metres)—twice that of the Nile River and three times that of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers combined. The river’s conventional name derives from the Tibetan and Sanskrit name Sindhu. The earliest chronicles and hymns of the Aryan peoples of ancient India, the Rigveda, composed about 1500 bce, mention the river, which is the source of the country’s name.

TRIBUTARY OF INDUS

Description[edit]

The ultimate source of the Indus is in Tibet; it begins at the confluence of the Sengge and Gar rivers that drain the Nganglong Kangri and Gangdise Shan mountain ranges. The Indus then flows northwest through Ladakh and Baltistan into Gilgit, just south of the Karakoram range. The Shyok, Shigarand Gilgit rivers carry glacial waters into the main river. It gradually bends to the south, coming out of the hills between Peshawar and Rawalpindi. The Indus passes gigantic gorges 4,500–5,200 metres (15,000–17,000 feet) deep near the Nanga Parbat massif. It flows swiftly across Hazara and is dammed at the Tarbela Reservoir. The Kabul River joins it near Attock. The remainder of its route to the sea is in the plains of the Punjab and Sindh, where the flow of the river becomes slow and highly braided. It is joined by the Panjnad at Mithankot. Beyond this confluence, the river, at one time, was named the Satnad River (sat = "seven", nadī = "river"), as the river was now carrying the waters of the Kabul River, the Indus River and the five Punjab rivers. Passing by Jamshoro, it ends in a large delta to the east of Thatta.The Indus River provides key water resources for the economy of Pakistan - especially the Breadbasket of Punjab province, which accounts for most of the nation's agricultural production, and Sindh. The word Punjab means "water of five rivers" and the five rivers are Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas andSutlej, all of which finally merge in Indus. The Indus also supports many heavy industries and provides the main supply of potable water in Pakistan.

The Indus is one of the few rivers in the world to exhibit a tidal bore. The Indus system is largely fed by the snows and glaciers of the Himalayas, Karakoram and the Hindu Kush ranges of Tibet, the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir and the Northern Areas of Pakistan respectively. The flow of the river is also determined by the seasons - it diminishes greatly in the winter, while flooding its banks in the monsoon months from July to September. There is also evidence of a steady shift in the course of the river since prehistoric times - it deviated westwards from flowing into the Rann of Kutch and adjoining Banni grasslands after the 1816 earthquake.

The traditional source of the river is the Senge Khabab or "Lion's Mouth", a perennial spring, not far from the sacred Mount Kailash, and is marked by a long low line of Tibetan chortens. There are several other tributaries nearby which may possibly form a longer stream than Senge Khabab, but unlike the Senger Khabab, are all dependent on snowmelt. The Zanskar River which flows into the Indus in Ladakh has a greater volume of water than the Indus itself before that point.