Water

Geography of Pakistan · Natural resources. The idea in plain words, the rules to remember, the mistake to avoid and a worked example, written and checked by Mega Lecture.

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The idea

Rainfall is low, so farming, industry and homes depend on the Indus river system. A dam blocks a valley and stores water in a large reservoir. Summer floodwater is kept for the dry winter, and the falling water also generates hydel power. A barrage is a low wall with gates across a river on the plain. It stores little water but raises the level so that water flows into canals.

Under the Indus Waters Treaty (1960) Pakistan received the three western rivers and India the three eastern rivers. Pakistan then built dams and link canals to move western river water to the east.

Supply is threatened by silt, wasted water, pollution and disputes over sharing.

Rules to remember

Tarbela Dam: on the Indus. Mangla Dam: on the Jhelum. Warsak Dam: on the Kabul River near Peshawar.
Barrages on the Indus: Jinnah, Chashma, Taunsa, Guddu, Sukkur, Kotri.
Treaty of 1960: Indus, Jhelum and Chenab mainly to Pakistan; Ravi, Beas and Sutlej to India.
Link canals carry water from the western rivers to canals once fed by the eastern rivers.
Silt settling in reservoirs reduces how much water they can store.
Lining canals and watercourses with bricks or concrete reduces loss by seepage.
Factories and cities should treat waste water before it enters rivers.

Common mistake

Do not write that a barrage stores water like a dam. A barrage mainly diverts water into canals; a dam stores it.

Worked example

After 1960 Pakistan built a large dam at Mangla. How is this linked to the Indus Waters Treaty?

The treaty gave the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej to India, so canals in eastern Punjab lost their supply.
Pakistan had to use water from the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab instead.
These rivers carry most of their water in summer, so the water had to be stored for the rest of the year.
Mangla Dam stores Jhelum water, and link canals carry it east.

Answer: Mangla was built to store western river water to replace the eastern river water given to India.

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