Punjab, located in northwest India near the Himalayan foothills, is the country of Maharajas and the birthplace of the Sikhi, with a rich cultural heritage.
Punjab is one of the most densely populated places on earth, with 28 million people and a land mass of over 50,000 km², yet it is also the country's breadbasket, making it one of India's wealthier states (it produces nearly 2% of the world's wheat).
Credit: Pure Punjabi
This little-known region is situated in a lush floodplain with a vast network of irrigation canals, most of which were constructed during British rule. Its farming benefits from a lot of rain, especially during the monsoon and winter seasons.
The rainy season begins in the first week of July, with the majority of the rain coming from the Bay of Bengal's monsoon current. In the second week of September, the monsoon begins to subside, accompanied by a gradual change in weather and temperature. There is a transition time between the monsoon and the winter season, which delivers rain once more, between October and November.
Apart from wheat, the combination of rainfall and an extensive irrigation network allows for the cultivation of a wide range of crops, ranging from sugar cane to basmati rice, which is sold around the world. In this way, India has been able to overcome the food insecurity that has plagued the country since its independence in 1947, ensuring that the country has remained food secure over the years.
Known as the ‘Land of Five Rivers’ these rivers are the most important feature of the area and give the name Punjab ('Panj' means five and 'Aab' means water) to this land.
The rivers form into the Panjnad River which eventually flows into Indus River (coincidently, Panjnad also means five rivers. Nad coming from the word river in Sanskrit). The vast Indus then terminates into Arabian Sea near Karachi City. All these rivers together with Indus River are considered part of Indus Valley River System. The Indus River was known as Satnad (Sat meaning seven) beyond the junction of the Indus and Panjnad rivers, carrying the waters of seven rivers, including the Indus, the five Punjab rivers, and the Kabul River. The ancient Greeks referred to this region as Pentapotamia, which means an inland delta formed by the merging of five rivers.
Currently, only three rivers, the Satluj, Beas, and Ravi, flow through the Indian state of Punjab. Ravi flows through Punjab, mostly along the border between India and Pakistan, before entering Pakistan. The other two rivers, the Jhelum and the Chenab, flow through Pakistan's Punjab.
Credit: ResearchGate
Sutlej
Sutlej is the eastern most outlet of the Indus River. Its Sanskrit name is Shatadru. The source of origin is Rakshastal Lake in Tibet. Some geologists consider the source as Mansrover lake. The two lakes Mansrover and Rakshastal are enormous and close in proximity, hence the confusion. The water of Mansrover overflows into Rakshastal, the river enters India in Himachal Pradesh and then enters into the Ropar district of Punjab. The river Beas merges with it at Harike in Tarn Taran district and then unites with the Chenab near Uch Sharif in Pakistan, forming the Panjnad river. The Panjnad river merges with the Indus River near Bahawalpur City in Pakistan.
The Sutlej is assigned to India under the
Indus Waters Treaty between India and Pakistan, and is mostly diverted to irrigation canals throughout the sub-continent. There are several major hydroelectric projects on the Sutlej, including the 1,325 MW
Bhakra dam, the 1,000 MW
Karcham Wangtoo hydroelectric plant and the 1,530 MW
Nathpa Jhakri dam. Bhakra Dam is one of the largest dams in India and its reservoir Gobind Sagar Lake is the second largest reservoir in India for water storage capacity.
The total length of Sutlej is around 1500 km and is the longest river in Punjab.
Credit: Flickr
Ravi
The Vedic name of Ravi is Purushini, in Sanskrit it’s Iravati. Ravi River rises in Kangra, Himachal Pradesh and enters into Punjab through Pathankot. The river flows along the border of India and Pakistan, separating Gurdaspur and Amritsar from Pakistan. It flows about 720 km long and it terminates by merging with the Chenab river near Ahmadpur Sia, Pakistan.
Under the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, the water from the Ravi is distributed to India and Pakistan. The Indus Basin Project was developed in Pakistan and many inter-basin water channels, irrigation, hydropower and multipurpose projects have been built in India. Major dams on this river are Ranjit Sagar dam (or Thein Dam), Shahpur Kandi dam, Chamera dam, Karcham dam and Kaushalya dam.
Credit: Bloomberg
Beas
The Beas River originates from Beas Kund (also called Vyas Kund) in the Himalayan mountains of Himachal Pradesh. It enters Punjab in Hoshiarpur district. The total length of the river is approximately 470 km and flows into the Sutlej River at Harike in Tarn Taran.
In the 20th century, the river was developed under the Beas Project for irrigation and hydroelectric power generation purposes. The second-phase Pong dam was completed in 1974, with a 360 MW installed capacity, followed by the first-phase 140 kilometres upstream, the Pandoh dam, in 1977. It diverts the river through a system of tunnels and channels to the 990 MW Dehar power station on the Sutlej River, connecting both rivers.
Credit: Handful of Shadows
Chenab
Chenab starts in upper Himalayas in the Lahaul and Spiti, Himachal Pradesh. It then flows through the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir and enters into Punjab, Pakistan. The river does not flow through Punjab in India. The total length of this river is around 960 km. The river Jhelum joins it at Trimmu and then Ravi joins it near Ahmedpur Sial. It then merges with Sutlej to form the Panjnad River.
The waters of the Chenab were allocated to Pakistan under the terms of the Indus Waters Treaty. The river has rich power generation potential in India, including the Salal dam with a 690 MW hydroelectric power project; the Baglihar dam, the Dul Hasti hydroelectric plant; the Pakal Dul dam, the Ratle hydroelectric plant, a "run-of-the-river” power station under construction; the Kiru hydroelectric power project with a proposed 624 MW, and the Kwar hydroelectric power project with a proposed 540 MW.
Credit: Indiatimes.com
Jhelum
Known as Hydaspes to the Ancient Greeks. The Jhelum Rriver originates through Verinag Spring located in Jammu and Kashmir, around 80 km from Srinagar. It is the western most of the five rivers of Punjab and is a tributary of the Chenab River. The river flows through Jammu and Kashmir and then enters Punjab in Pakistan. It does not flow through Punjab, India. The total length of the river is roughly 725 Km and it terminates into the Chenab River near Trimmu in the district of Jhang.
The famous battle between Alexander (known as Sikander in Indian texts) and King Porus was fought on the banks of this river and is known as Battle of Hydaspes.
The same as the other rivers, it has rich power generation potential in India. Water control structures are being built as a result of the Indus Basin Project, including the Mangla dam, completed in 1967, one of the largest earth fill dams in the world, with a storage capacity of 7.3 km3; the Uri dam, with a 480 MW hydroelectric station; and the 330 MW Kishanganga hydroelectric plant, among others.
Credit: The Express Tribune
Bonus reading:
The area between two rivers is called Doab, which literally means the land between two rivers. The word Doab is made of two Persian words "Do" meaning two and "Aab" meaning water or river.
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