Himalayan Rivers - Indus River System

 The Himalayan Rivers

  • Indus, the Ganga and the Brahmaputra.
  • Melting of snow and precipitation, rivers of this system are perennial.
  • Giant & deep gorges & Erosional activity, V-shaped valleys, rapids and waterfalls in their mountainous.
  • Enter into plain – depositional features like flat valleys, ox-bow lakes, flood plains, braided channels, and deltas. Ex: River Kosi (Sorrow of Bihar) - frequently changing its course.
  • Shiwalik or Indo-Brahma traversed the entire longitudinal extent of the Himalaya from Assam to Punjab and onwards to Sind, and finally discharged into the Gulf of Sind near lower Punjab during the Miocene period some 5-24 million years ago.
  • Shiwalik and its lacustrine origin and alluvial deposits consisting of sands, silt, clay, boulders and conglomerates support this viewpoint.
  • Indo–Brahma river was dismembered into three main drainage systems:
    • Indus and its five tributaries in the western part
    • Ganga and its Himalayan tributaries in the central part
    • the stretch of the Brahmaputra in Assam and its Himalayan tributaries in the eastern part
  • Water divide between the Indus and Ganga drainage systems - due to the Pleistocene upheaval in western Himalayas include Potwar Plateau (Delhi Ridge).
The Indus River System
  • Rises in ‘Singi Khamban’ - Tibet, near Lake Mansarowar. Flowing west, enter into Ladakh.
  • Indus also known as Sindhu. 11,65,000 sq.km (in India it is 321, 289 sq.km and a total length of 2,880 km (in India 1,114 km) & Picturesque gorge.
  • Several tributaries, Shyok, the Gilgit, the Zaskar, the Hunza, the Nubra, the Shigar, the Gasting and the Dras.
  • Indus flows through Baltistan and Gilgit, emerges from the mountains at Attock.
  • Tributaries joining the right bank – the Khurram, the Tochi, the Gomal, the Viboa and the Sangar. Orginate in Sulaiman range & flows southward and receives ‘Panjnad’ little above mithankot.
  • The Satluj, the Beas, the Ravi, the Chenab and the Jhelum join together to enter the Indus near Mithankot in Pakistan → reaching the Arabian Sea, east of Karachi.
  • Very gentle slope, 2900 km length.
  • third of the Indus basin is located in India Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab and the rest is in Pakistan.

  • Jhelum
    • Rises from a spring at Verinag, foot of the Pir Panjal in south-eastern part of the valley of Kashmir. Flow Srinagar and the Wular lake, deep narrow gorge. Joins the Chenab near Jhang in Pakistan.
  • Chenab
    • Formed by two streams, the Chandra and the Bhaga join at Tandi near Keylong in Himachal Pradesh known as Chandrabhaga.
    • Flows for 1,180 km before entering into Pakistan
  • Ravi
    • Originating from the Beas Kund near the Rohtang Pass.
    • Flows through the Kullu valley. forms gorges at Kati and Largi in the Dhaoladhar range. Meets Satluj near Harike.
  • Satluj
    • Originates in the ‘Raksas tal’ nearMansarovar in Tibet, known as Langchen Khambab.
    • Parallel to the Indus, comes out of a gorge at Rupar.
    • Passes Shipki La on the Himalayan ranges and enters the Punjab plains.
    • Antecedent river.
    • Bhakra Nangal project.
  • Indus Water Treaty (1960).

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