Rivers and wetlands of Punjab
Punjab means the land of five waters: the Sutlej, Beas, Ravi, Chenab and Jhelum, fed by glaciers and monsoon, joined at the Panjnad, and ringed by Ramsar wetlands like Harike, Kanjli and Ropar that shelter the birds of the Central Asian flyway.
8 rivers and wetlands of the two Punjabs: the five rivers and the Ramsar wetlands
What are the five rivers of Punjab?
The five rivers are the Sutlej, the Beas, the Ravi, the Chenab and the Jhelum. Punjab takes its name from them: panj means five and ab means water, the land of five waters. All five rise in the Himalayas, cross the plains of the two Punjabs, and unite at the Panjnad before their waters reach the Indus. Under the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, India uses the three eastern rivers, the Sutlej, Beas and Ravi, while Pakistan uses the western rivers, the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab.
Which is the largest wetland in Punjab?
Harike, where the Beas meets the Sutlej. A barrage built across the Sutlej in 1952 spread the river into a broad, shallow lake, and Harike is now the largest wetland in Punjab and a Ramsar site of international importance, filling every winter with migratory birds of the Central Asian flyway. Punjab's other two Ramsar wetlands are Kanjli, near Kapurthala, and Ropar, where the Sutlej leaves the Shivalik foothills.
What is the Panjnad?
The Panjnad is the single stream the five rivers become. The Jhelum and the Ravi flow into the Chenab, the Beas flows into the Sutlej, and at the Panjnad in Pakistani Punjab the Sutlej joins the Chenab, so all five run in one channel. A short way downstream, near Mithankot, the Panjnad meets the Indus.
Which dams stand on the rivers of Punjab?
Three great dams anchor the Indian Punjab rivers: Bhakra Dam on the Sutlej, one of the highest gravity dams in the world, holding back the Gobind Sagar; the Pong Dam on the Beas, whose reservoir is the Maharana Pratap Sagar; and the Ranjit Sagar Dam, also called the Thein Dam, on the Ravi. Below them, barrages like Harike feed the canal network that waters the plains.