The Ravi River rises in the majestic Himalayas in the Indian State of Himachal Pradesh and flows north-west past the Chamba River and continuing by turning southwest at the Jammu and Kashmir border. The Ravi River flows in both India and Pakistan and is among the five rivers, which give Punjab its name. It arises in Bara Banghal, a branch of the Dhauladhar Range of Himalayas in the Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh. Flowing southwest and crossing Dalhousie, it cuts another gorge across the Dhauladhar Ranges before entering Punjab near Pathankot and Madhopur.
The river then flows into Pakistan and after running a course of 50 miles enters the Punjab province past Lahore and turning west at Kamalia. Finally, Ravi River empties itself into Chenab River at the southern part of Ahmedpur Sial with a total course of 450 miles (725 km). It is also called 'The river of Lahore' since that great city is situated on its eastern bank. On its western bank is located the famous town of Shahdara with the tomb of Jahangir and the Tomb of Noor Jahan.
The Ravi River, a trans-boundary river of India and Pakistan, is an integral part of the Indus River Basin and forms the headwaters of the Indus basin. The waters of the Ravi River drain into the Indian Ocean through the Indus River in Pakistan.
The Ravi’s waters are used for irrigating large areas of land along its course. The Upper Bari Doab Canal, with headworks at Madhopur at the northern tip of the Indian Punjab state, was completed in 1878–79; it irrigates a large area east of the Ravi in India, and its distributary canals extend into Pakistan. The two countries had frequent disputes over the water before concluding the Indus Waters Treaty in 1960, which allocated the water of the Ravi to India, in exchange for which Pakistan received exclusive rights to the waters of the Indus and its western tributaries. The Lower Bari Doab Canal, completed in 1917, lies entirely in Pakistan.
Following the setting up of the inter-ministerial task force, a number of hydro-electric , irrigation and dam projects in Indus river which were stalled due to various reasons were reviewed and work was put on fast-track.
This also has an immense strategic significance due to its proximity to border with Pakistan.
The project to be completed in 66 months will not only generate 650 MU of electricity but is also a storage type project which will improve the water availability during the lean season.
As earlier reported, the cabinet on December 6, 2018 also sanctioned Shahpurkandi Dam in Punjab to be constructed on the Ravi River.
The project which would be completed by June 2022 would potentially irrigate an additional 5,000 ha in Punjab and 32,173 ha in J and would reduce the amount of the water of the Ravi river flowing downstream to Pakistan at present.
There is also a proposal to build a barrage to distribute unutilised Ujh waters by linking the Ravi and the Beas rivers.
Baluchistan, Sindh, Punjab and Rajasthan.These small agricultural settlements emerged into distinct regional traditions.The use of similar kinds potteries, representations of a horned deity and finds of terracotta mother goddesses show the way to the emergence of a unifying tradition.Trading relations of Baluch people with the towns of Persian Gulf and Central Asia took place during this time.Technological advancements i.e.
use of copper, bronze and stone tools led to greater exploitation of fertile plains that resulted in increased grain production.
This created possibility for greater surpluses and thus development of trade relations with other countries.The larger surpluses would have permitted the elaboration of non-farming specialization.This is how emergence of priests, potters and craftsmen would have happened.Few early Harappan sites in Indus region are:Amri -> Stone and mud brick houses; Granaries; fortificationKot-Diji -> decorative pottery; fortificationMehrgarh -> prosperous town; use of lapis-lazuli; seals;Kalibangan -> mud bricks houses; pottery in different shapes; ploughed field surface.Emergence of the Harappan Civilization Some of the reasons that may have led to the emergence of the Harappan civilization are:The Existence of many agricultural groups and pastoral nomadic communities were living in close contact with each other.This must have led to conflict among them.The agricultural communities would have fought with each other for the control of more fertile tracts of land which is the possible reason for defensive walls.This led to emergence of Mature Harappan period.Features of Harappan CivilizationThe Harappan society was characterized by the presence ofspecialized craftsmen,long distance trade,the existence of rich and poor people andthe presence of kings.
The Harappan communities staying in Rajasthan, Punjab or Sindh may have been using the same sets of weights and measures.The copper-bronze tools used by them were also uniform in design, shape and size, the bricks they used had a proportion 4:2:1.The towns were characterized by uniformities in the planning of the buildings, citadels etc.The seals, shell(shankh) bangles, carnelian beads and the disc beads of steatite were also uniformly designed in the entire geographical space covered by the cities of the Harappan Civilization.Most of the time a Harappan site is identified by the use of a pinkish pottery with bright red slip.
This pottery had standard representations of trees, animals, birds and geometric motifs in black.It is the oldest civilization of India and also known as the first Urbanization.After independence it was called “Harappan Civilization”.
As Harappa was the first largest city excavated.Important Centers During the civilization there were around 1000 cities.HarappaIt was the first site to be excavated.Substantial section of population was engaged in activities related to administration, trade, craft work or religion.It was located in the midst of some important trade routes of the world.MohenjodaroIt is the largest site of Harappan Civilization.
