https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Indus_BasinIndus Basin - Revision history2026-07-30T20:54:12ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Indus_Basin&diff=504468&oldid=prevVeronaqbs at 10:47, 26 October 20252025-10-26T10:47:10Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Part of Asia}}<br />
[[File:Indus River basin map.svg|thumb|The Indus Basin]]<br />
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The '''Indus Basin''' is the part of [[Asia]] drained by the [[Indus River]] and its tributaries. The basin covers an area of {{convert|1120000|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}<ref name=Shrestha15_58>{{harvnb|Shrestha|Agrawal|Alfthan|Bajracharya|Maréchal|van Oort|2015|page=58}}</ref>{{efn|Other estimates put the area of the basin between {{convert|1080000|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} and {{convert|1137817|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}<ref name=Laghari12_1064>{{harvnb|Laghari|Vanham|Rauch|2012|page=1064}}</ref>}} traversing four countries: [[Afghanistan]], [[China]], [[India]], and [[Pakistan]], with most of the area lying predominantly in the latter two countries.<br />
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==Geography==<br />
The Indus River has two main tributaries: the [[Panjnad]]—formed by successive confluences of [[Satluj|Sutlej]], [[Beas River|Beas]], [[Ravi River|Ravi]], [[Jhelum River|Jhelum]], and [[Chenab River]]s—and the [[Kabul River|Kabul]], containing the waters of the [[Swat River|Swat]] and [[Kunar River]]s, as well as others. The Indus and Sutlej originate on the [[Tibetan Plateau]], the Ravi, Beas, Chenab and Jhelum originate in the Indian western [[Himalayas]], and the Kabul and its tributaries originate in the [[Hindu Kush]] of eastern Afghanistan and northern Pakistan.<br />
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The Indus Basin lies in four countries: Pakistan, India, China, and Afghanistan. The largest portion of the basin, at 47%, lies in Pakistan while India contains the second biggest share at 39%. China and Afghanistan contain the remaining 14%.<ref name=Shrestha15_145>{{harvnb|Shrestha|Wagle|Rajbhandari|2019|page=145}}</ref>{{sfn|Cheema|Qamar|2019|page=183}} The Indus Basin spans the length of Pakistan, constitutes a majority (65%) of its area and forms part of all provinces and territories of the country: [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]], [[Sindh]], [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]], [[Balochistan]], [[Azad Jammu and Kashmir]], and [[Gilgit-Baltistan]], with all except Sindh and Balochistan located entirely within the basin. In India, the Indus Basin forms around 14% of the country but makes up the bulk of the [[Northwestern India|northwestern]] part of the country including the [[Indian states|states]] and [[Union Territory|union territories]] of [[Punjab, India|Punjab]], [[Himachal Pradesh]], [[Jammu and Kashmir (union territory)|Jammu and Kashmir]], [[Ladakh]], [[Haryana]], and western [[Rajasthan]].<br />
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{{multiple image<br />
| perrow = 2<br />
| align = left<br />
| total_width = 400<br />
| caption_align = center<br />
| image1 = Indus Valley.jpg<br />
| caption1 = The Indus River in [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]]<br />
| image2 = Spiti River Kaza Himachal Jun18 D72 7232.jpg<br />
| caption2 = [[Spiti river|Spiti]], a tributary of the [[Satluj]], in [[Himachal Pradesh]]<br />
}}<br />
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The Indus Basin consists of various topographical regions. A large part of the [[drainage basin]] is mountainous, and around 40% of its area lies above an elevation of {{convert|2000|m|ft|abbr=on}}.{{sfn|Cheema|Qamar|2019|page=183}} The basin can be divided into two wide physiographic divisions: the upper basin consisting of the mountainous regions of the Himalaya, [[Karakoram]], Hindu Kush, [[Shiwalik Hills|Shiwalik]], [[Suleiman Range|Suleiman]], and [[Kirthar Range|Kirthar]] ranges; and the lower basin consisting of the [[Indo-Gangetic Plain|Indus Plains]] including the alluvial plains of the [[Punjab]] and Sindh.<ref name=Shrestha15_145/> Most of the basin is arid or semi-arid, with the exception of the Himalayan foothills which receive significant rainfall.<br />
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[[File:Frozen Lake Shinko La Lahaul Jun24 A7CR 00315.jpg|thumb|Frozen lake at [[Shinku La]], a mountain pass in [[Himachal Pradesh]], India. The headwaters of the [[Chenab River|Chenab]] and [[Zanskar River|Zanskar]] rivers lie near the pass.]]<br />
The basin contains the largest amount of perennial [[glacial ice]] outside of the polar regions.<ref name=Shrestha15_58/> A majority of the runoff in the Indus drainage basin comes from [[meltwater]]—glacial melt contributing 41% and [[snowmelt]] providing 22%—of the Himalaya, Hindu Kush and Karakorum mountains.<ref>{{harvnb|Shrestha|Agrawal|Alfthan|Bajracharya|Maréchal|van Oort|2015|p=21}}</ref> Rainfall contributes the remaining. On average, a little over half of the entire annual flow is received within the three months from July to September, when [[Indian monsoon|monsoonal rains]] combine with meltwater.{{sfn|Gilmartin|2015|p=14}} As a result, the region has historically seen substantial flooding in the summer months.{{sfn|Gilmartin|2015|p=15}}<br />
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==Water use==<br />
The Indus drainage supports some 237 million people. Pakistan contains a majority of the people living in the Indus Basin (around 61% of total) most of whom heavily depend on its rivers for their water needs. India contains another large portion (35%) of the Indus Basin's population. The remaining 4% live mostly in Afghanistan, representing a little less than a quarter of the country's population.<ref name=Laghari12_1064/> The Indus Basin is the second most [[water stress]]ed basin of the world.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Richey |first1=Alexandra S. |last2=Thomas |first2=Brian F. |last3=Lo |first3=Min-Hui |last4=Reager |first4=John T. |last5=Famiglietti |first5=James S. |last6=Voss |first6=Katalyn |last7=Swenson |first7=Sean |last8=Rodell |first8=Matthew |date=2015-07-16 |title=Quantifying renewable groundwater stress with GRACE |journal=Water Resources Research |language=en |volume=51 |issue=7 |pages=5217–38 |doi=10.1002/2015WR017349 |pmc=4744761 |pmid=26900185|bibcode=2015WRR....51.5217R }}</ref><br />
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93% of the water of the Indus Basin is used for irrigation of agricultural land.{{sfn|Cheema|Qamar|2019|p=189}} Many of the rivers of the Indus River system are dammed to create large reservoirs of water: in India the Satluj river is dammed at [[Bhakra Dam|Bhakra]] creating the [[Gobind Sagar]] reservoir, the Beas at [[Pong Dam|Pong]] creating the [[Maharana Pratap Sagar]] reservoir and the Ravi at [[Thein Dam|Thein]] creating the Ranjit Sagar reservoir; while in Pakistan the Jhelum river is dammed at [[Mangla Dam|Mangla]] and the Indus is dammed at [[Tarbela Dam|Tarbela]] and [[Chashma Barrage|Chashma]] creating the Mangla, [[Tarbela Lake|Tarbela]] and Chashma reservoirs respectively. The water from these reservoirs as well as from various barrages are diverted to irrigate 26 million hectares (mha) of agricultural land, 16 mha in Pakistan and 10 mha in India.{{sfn|Cheema|Qamar|2019|p=184}}<br />
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==See also==<br />
* [[Living Indus Initiative]]<br />
* [[Indus Water Treaty]]<br />
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==References==<br />
{{notelist}}<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
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==Bibliography==<br />
{{Refbegin}}<br />
* {{citation |last=Gilmartin |first=David |title=Blood and Water: The Indus River Basin in Modern History |publisher=University of California Press |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-520-96083-1 |oclc=987457337 |doi=10.1525/california/9780520285293.001.0001 }}<br />
* {{citation |editor-last1=Khan |editor-first1=Sadiq I. |editor-last2=Adams III |editor-first2=Thomas E. |title=Indus River Basin: Water Security and Sustainability |publisher=Elsevier |year=2019 |isbn=978-0-12-812782-7 |oclc=8157422772 |doi=10.1016/C2016-0-04119-0}}<br />
** <!-- Ch. 8 -->{{citation <!--Deny Citation Bot (succint chapter)-->|last1=Cheema |first1=MJM<br />
|last2=Qamar |first2=MU |title=8. Transboundary Indus River Basin: Potential Threats to Its Integrity |pages=183–201 |year=2019 |doi=10.1016/B978-0-12-812782-7.00009-6 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/B9780128127827000096 }}<br />
** <!-- Ch. 6 -->{{citation <!--Deny Citation Bot (succint chapter)-->|first1=Arun Bhakta |last1=Shrestha |first2=Nisha |last2=Wagle |first3=Rupak |last3=Rajbhandari |title=6. A Review on the Projected Changes in Climate Over the Indus Basin |pages=145–158 |year=2019 |doi=10.1016/B978-0-12-812782-7.00007-2 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/B9780128127827000072 }}<br />
* {{cite journal |last1=Laghari |first1=A. I. |last2=Vanham |first2=D. |last3=Rauch |first3=W. |title=The Indus basin in the framework of current and future water resources management |journal= Hydrology and Earth System Sciences |volume=16 |pages=1063–83 |year=2012 |issue=4 |url=https://hess.copernicus.org/articles/16/1063/2012/hess-16-1063-2012.pdf |doi= 10.5194/hess-16-1063-2012 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2012HESS...16.1063L }}<br />
* {{cite book |editor-last1=Shrestha |editor-first1=AB |editor-last2=Agrawal |editor-first2=NK |editor-last3=Alfthan |editor-first3=B |editor-last4=Bajracharya |editor-first4=SR |editor-last5=Maréchal |editor-first5=J |editor-last6=van Oort |editor-first6=B |year=2015 |title=The Himalayan Climate and Water Atlas: Impact of Climate Change on Water Resources in Five of Asia's Major River Basins |publisher=ICIMOD, GRID-Arendal and CICERO |isbn=978-92-9115-357-2 |url=https://lib.icimod.org/record/31180 |language=en }}<br />
* {{cite journal |vauthors=Richey AS, Thomas BF, Lo MH, Reager JT, Famiglietti JS, Voss K, Swenson S, Rodell M |title=Quantifying renewable groundwater stress with GRACE |journal=Water Resour Res |volume=51 |issue=7 |pages=5217–38 |date=July 2015 |pmid=26900185 |pmc=4744761 |doi=10.1002/2015WR017349 |bibcode=2015WRR....51.5217R }}<br />
{{Refend}}<br />
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{{Authority control}}<br />
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{{coord missing|India}}<br />
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[[Category:Indus basin|Basin, Indus]]<br />
[[Category:Basins of Asia]]<br />
[[Category:Drainage basins of Asia]]<br />
[[Category:Geography of Pakistan]]<br />
[[Category:Geography of India]]<br />
[[Category:Natural regions of India]]<br />
[[Category:Geography of Afghanistan]]<br />
[[Category:Geography of China]]<br />
[[Category:Indus River|B]]</div>Veronaqbs