Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Jhelum, The Chenab and Ravi

The Jhelum (Sanskrit: Vitasta) Rising in a spring of deep blue water at Seshanag at the head of its Lidar tributary, it flows for 110 km in a north-west direction and enters the Wular Lake. Its basin lies between the Great Himalayan Range and the Pir Panjal. Below Srinagar it is joined by the Sind river. From Baramula it flows through a narrow defile known as Basmangal, 2,130 m deep with very steep sides. After emerging from Jammu it flows past Pind Dadankheru and Bhera and is joined by the Chenab at Trimmu. The total length of the river is 725 km. 28,490 sq km of its total drainage area is in India. The Jhelum is an important river in Kashmir for it is the main waterway.

The Chenab
(Sanskrit name: Asikni or Chandrabhaga) The largest of the Indus tributaries, its two tributaries at the source are Chandra and Bhaga which rise on the opposite sides of Baralacha Pass (4,880 m) in Lahul. The Chandra is a stream of good size though it flows through a snow- clad, barren, uninhabited country. The Bhaga is a precipitous stream. They join at Tandi and then flow through Chamba in a north-westerly direction for 160 km in the trough between the Great Himalaya and the Pir Panjal. Cutting a deep gorge in the Pir Panjal, it turns southwards and later to the west to enter the plains near Akhnur. The Chenab has a total length of 1,800 km in India. It drains an area of 26,755 sq km in India.

The Ravi (Sanskrit name: Parushni or lravati) The smallest river of the Punjab and well-known as the river of Lahore, it rises near Rohtang Pass in the Kulu hills of Himachal Pradesh. It drains the northern slopes of the Dhauladhar range and the southern slopes of Pir Panjal. It leaves the basin through an inaccessible gorge with perpendicular sides and flows through Chamba in a north­westerly direction parallel to the Dhauladhar range, cutting through that range a few kilometres to the north-west of Dalhousie. It leaves the mountains at Basaoli after a course of 210 km during which it drops by 4,570 m in altitude (22 m per km). It finally joins the Chenab in Pakistan. Its total length is 725 km. Its drainage spreads over 5,957 sq km in India.

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