Land & Water

Resources of
Pakistan
Dr. Muhammad Anwar Baig
6th February 2013

THE INDUS VALLEY

The Indus Valley has been regarded in

the history for its outstanding
agriculture and industry.
The River Indus has been playing a
pivotal role for the large civilizations
emerged around its banks. The major
cities of theIndus Valley Civilization,
such asHarappaandMohenjo-daro,
date back to around 3300 BC, and
represent some of the largest human
habitations of the ancient world.
The Indus has formed a natural
boundary between the Indian

 Originating in the Tibetan plateau

of western China in the vicinity of
Lake Mansarovar in
Tibet Autonomous Region, the
river runs a course through the
Ladakh district of
Jammu and Kashmir and then
enters Pakistan via the
Northern Areas (Gilgit-Baltistan),
flowing through the North in a
southerly direction along the
entire length of Pakistan, to
merge into the Arabian Sea near

THE INDUS BASIN

The Indus River Basin is spread
over four countries Pakistan,
China (Tibat), Afghanistan and
India.
About 65 percent of the Basin is
located in Pakistan, while 10
percent is in China, 10 percent in
Indian Occupied Kashmir, 8
percent in Afghanistan and 7
percent is located in India.

 Indus River Basin is the largest Basin of

the country and covers 70 percent of the
area of Pakistan.
It consists of mountainous areas of the
north and the west, the Indus Plain, the
Kacchi Plain, the desert areas of
Bahawalpur and Sindh and the Rann of
Kutch.
On the north, it is surrounded by Hindu
Kush range, on the north-east by
Karakoram and Harmosh ranges, on the
western side by Sulaiman and Kirthar
ranges while Arabian Sea forms its
southern boundary.

 The Himalayan mountains have

highest peaks in the world
(8600 m above MSL) with vast
deposits of snow and ice having
the capacity to block and
capture the monsoon winds and
their moisture.
Hindu Kush and Karakoram
mountains form the great divide
which separates the Indus Basin
waters from that of the Central
Asia.

 The Indus and its major tributaries flow in

longitudinal valleys in structural troughs
parallel to the mountains and after cutting
through the mountains following steep and
confined channels, emerge into the alluvial
plains which stretch over a distance of some
1500 km to the tidal delta near the Arabian
Sea.
These vast alluvial plains of the Indus Basin
are called the Indus Plain.
The Indus Plain has been formed by the
enormous amount of alluvium brought down
by the mightily Indus and ancient rivers in
geologic times and the modern tributaries
of the Indus meandering in the plains over
thousands of years.
The total length of the Indus from

Climate and Meteorology

Climate of Pakistan is Desert or near
Desert
Half of the country receives < 250
mm(10) rain
Some zones receive over 2000mm (800
rainfall in northern portion of country
Highest elevations receive upto 500mm
(20)
Max precip received a 4000 6000 feet
Distribution of rainfall is seasonal- in
summer it monsoon circulation from
southwest originating from Bay of
Bengal .Move across Gangatic plains and

 Rainfall Intnsity towards

Himalayas decreases and
similarly towards south plains it
is low
Arabian sea also generates
summer storms but intensity
decreases as it moves inland
Southern Punjab and Northern
Sindh areas receive lowest
rainfall
Winter precip is from west and
northwest winds

 The Indus river system is combination of

Indus and its tributaries has great amount of
variability in flow over time and space.
Indus is more of a snow fed river
Is tributaries viz Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi and
Sutlej depend on rainfall for their flows
Most of the flow come as a single flood
following snow melt or heavy rains unless
captured b reservoirs
Heavy rains cause flooding in the plains

Geology of Indus and

other Plains

Pakistan area has THREE categories

namely:
Sedimentary and Volcanic rocks
Ophiolites and Melange rocks
Intrusive and metamorphic rocks

The second and third are in upper

mountains
Northern part of Pakistan are in
Tectonic belts where activities have
been observed

 The Punjab plain is a sedimentary

plain with a gentle southward slope
averaging 0.019% .
The only break in the alluvial
monotony is a some broken outcrops
between 35 to 500 m (100 to 1600
feet) near Sangla and Kirana