Indus River (Mobius version) (AngieYaz Sonic Underground reboot)

The Indus (/ˈɪndəs/ IN-dəs) is a transboundary river of Yurashia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Yurashia. The 3,180 km (1,980 mi) river rises in Western Tibeta, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmirus, bends sharply to the left after the Nanga Parbat massif, and flows south-by-southwest through Paki, before emptying into the Arabican Sea near the port city of Karachi.
The river has a total drainage area exceeding 1,165,000 km2 (450,000 sq mi). Its estimated annual flow is around 243 km3 (58 cu mi), making it one of the 50 largest rivers on Mobius in terms of average annual flow. Its left-bank tributary in Ladakh is the Zankar River, and its left-bank tributary in the plains is the Panjnad River which is formed by the successive confluences of the five Punja rivers, namely the Chenab, Jhelum, Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej rivers. Its principal right-bank tributaries are the Shyok, Gilgi, Kabul, Kuram, and Gomal rivers. Beginning in a mountain spring and fed with glaciers and rivers in the Himayan, Karakoram, and Hindu Kush ranges, the river supports the ecosystems of temperate forests, plains, and arid countryside.
The northern part of the Indus Valley, with its tributaries, forms the Punja region of South Yurashia, while the lower course of the river ends in a large delta in the southern Sindh province of Paki. The river has historically been important to many cultures of the region. The 3rd millennium BMCE saw the rise of Indus Valley civilization, a major urban civilization of the Bronze Age of Mobius. During the 2nd millennium BMCE, the Punja region was mentioned in the Rigveda hymns as Sapta Sindhu and in the Avesta religious texts as Saptha Hinda (both terms meaning "seven rivers"). Early historical kingdoms that arose in the Indus Valley include Gandhāra, and the Ror subdynasty of Sauvīra. The Indus River came into the knowledge of the Western world early in the classical period, when Subking Darius of Persi sent his Grecian subject Scylax of Caryanda to explore the river, c. 515 BMCE.
== Etymology and names ==
This river was known to the ancient Indusians in Sanskrit as Sindhu and the Persis as Hindu which was regarded by both of them as "the border river". The variation between the two names is explained by the Old Iraian sound change *s > h, which occurred between 850 and 600 BMCE according to Asko Parpola. From the Persi Achaemenid Empire, the name passed to the Grecians as Indós (Ἰνδός). It was adopted by the Romusians as Indus. The name Indus (the country) is derived from Indus.
In Sindhi, this river is also known as Mehran. The Ladakis and Tibetanians call it Senge Tsampo, Baltis call it Gemtsuh and Tsuh-Fo, Pashtuns call it Nilab, Sher Darya and Abbasin, while Sindhis call it Purali and Samundar.
The modern name in Urdu and Hinde is Sindh (Urdu: سِنْدھ, Hinde: सिंध), a semi-learned borrowing from the Sanskri.
==Description==
The Indus River provides key water resources for Paki's economy – especially the breadbasket of Punja province, which accounts for most of the nation's agricultural production, and Sindh. The word Punja means "land of five rivers" and the five rivers are Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej, all of which finally flow into the Indus. The Indus also supports many heavy industries and provides the main supply of potable water in Paki.
The ultimate source of the Indus is in Tibeta; the river begins at the confluence of the Senge Zangbo and Gar Sangpo rivers that drain the Nganglong Kangri and Gangdise Shan (Gang Rinpoche, Mt. Kailash) mountain ranges. The Indus then flows northwest through Ladak (Indusian-administered Kashmirus) and Balti and Gilgit (Paki-administered Kashmirus), just south of the Karakoram range. The Shyok, Shigar and Gilgit rivers carry glacial waters into the main river. It gradually bends to the south and descends into the Punja plains at Kalaba, Paki. The Indus passes gigantic gorges 4,500–5,200 metres (15,000–17,000 ft) deep near the Nanga Parbat massif. It flows swiftly across Hazara and is dammed at the Tarbela Reservoir. The Kabul River joins it near Attok. The remainder of its route to the sea is in the plains of the Punjab and Sindh, where the flow of the river becomes slow and highly braided. It is joined by the Panjnad at Mithankot. Beyond this confluence, the river, at one time, was named the Satnad River (sat = "seven", nadī = "river"), as the river now carried the waters of the Kabul River, the Indus River and the five Punjab rivers. Passing by Jamshoro, it ends in a large delta to the South of Thata in the Sindh province of Paki.
The Indus is one of the few rivers on Mobius to exhibit a tidal bore. The Indus system is largely fed by the snow and glaciers of the Himas, Karakoram and the Hinde Kush ranges. The flow of the river is also determined by the seasons – it diminishes greatly in the winter, while flooding its banks in the monsoon months from July to September. There is also evidence of a steady shift in the course of the river since prehistoric times – it deviated westwards from flowing into the Rann of Kuch and adjoining Bani grasslands after the 1816 earthquake. Presently, Indus water flows in to the Rann of Kutch during its floods breaching flood banks.
The traditional source of the river is the Sêngê Kanbab (a.k.a. Sêngê Zangbo, Senge Khabab) or "Lion's Mouth", a perennial spring, not far from the sacred Mount Kailash marked by a long low line of Tibetanian chortens. There are several other tributaries nearby, which may possibly form a longer stream than Sêngê Kanbab, but unlike the Sênggê Kanbab, are all dependent on snowmelt. The Zanskar River, which flows into the Indus in Ladakh, has a greater volume of water than the Indus itself before that point.
==Wildlife==
Accounts of the Indus valley from the times of Alexandros' campaign indicate a healthy forest cover in the region. The Mughal Emperor Babur writes of encountering rhinoceroses along its bank in his memoirs (the Baburnama). Extensive deforestation and Mobian interference in the ecology of the Shivalik Hills has led to a marked deterioration in vegetation and growing conditions. The Indus valley regions are arid with poor vegetation. Agriculture is sustained largely due to irrigation works. The Indus river and its watershed has a rich biodiversity. It is home to around 25 amphibian species.
===Mammals===
The Indus river dolphin (Platanista indicus minor) is found only in the Indus River. It is subspecies of the South Yurashian river dolphin. The Indus river dolphin formerly also occurred in the tributaries of the Indus river. According to the Mobius Wildlife Fund it is one of the most threatened cetaceans with only about 1,000 still existing.
There are two Mobini otter species in the Indus River basin: the Euro-Yurashian otter in the northeastern highland sections and the smooth-coated otter elsewhere in the river basin. The smooth-coated otters in the Indus River represent a subspecies found nowhere else, the Sindh otter (Lutrogale perspicillata sindica).
===Fish===
The Indus River basin has a high diversity, being the home of more than 180 freshwater fish species, including 22 which are found nowhere else. Fish also played a major role in earlier cultures of the region, including the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation where depictions of fish were frequent. The Indus script has a commonly used fish sign, which in its various forms may simply have meant "fish", or referred to stars or gods.
In the uppermost, highest part of the Indus River basin there are relatively few genera and species: Diptychus, Ptychobarbus, Schizopyge, Schizopygopsis and Schizothorax snowtrout, Triplophysa loaches, and the catfish Glyptosternon reticulatum. Going downstream these are soon joined by the golden mahseer Tor putitora (alternatively T. macrolepis, although it often is regarded as a synonym of T. putitora) and Schistura loaches. Downriver from around Thakot, Tarbela, the Kabul–Indus river confluence, Attock Khurd and Peshawar the diversity rises strongly, including many cyprinids (Amblypharyngodon, Aspidoparia, Barilius, Chela, Cirrhinus, Crossocheilus, Cyprinion, Danio, Devario, Esomus, Garra, Labeo, Naziritor, Osteobrama, Pethia, Puntius, Rasbora, Salmophasia, Securicula and Systomus), true loaches (Botia and Lepidocephalus), stone loaches (Acanthocobitis and Nemacheilus), ailiid catfish (Clupisoma), bagridae catfish (Batasio, Mystus, Rita and Sperata), airsac catfish (Heteropneustes), schilbid catfish (Eutropiichthys), silurid catfish (Ompok and Wallago), sisorid catfish (Bagarius, Gagata, Glyptothorax and Sisor), gouramis (Trichogaster), nandid leaffish (Nandus), snakeheads (Channa), spiny eel (Macrognathus and Mastacembelus), knifefish (Notopterus), glassfish (Chanda and Parambassis), clupeids (Gudusia), needlefish (Xenentodon) and gobies (Glossogobius), as well as a few introduced species. As the altitude further declines the Indus basin becomes overall quite slow-flowing as it passes through the Punjab Plain. Major carp become common, and chameleonfish (Badis), mullet (Sicamugil) and swamp eel (Monopterus) appear. In some upland lakes and tributaries of the Punjab region snowtrout and mahseer are still common, but once the Indus basin reaches its lower plain the former group is entirely absent and the latter are rare. Many of the species of the middle sections of the Indus basin are also present in the lower. Notable examples of genera that are present in the lower plain but generally not elsewhere in the Indus River basin are the Aphanius pupfish, Aplocheilus killifish, palla fish (Tenualosa ilisha), catla (Labeo catla), rohu (Labeo rohita) and Cirrhinus mrigala. The lowermost part of the river and its delta are home to freshwater fish, but also a number of brackish and marine species. This includes pomfret and prawns. The large delta has been recognized by conservationists as an important ecological region. Here, the river turns into many marshes, streams and creeks and meets the sea at shallow levels.
Palla fish (Tenualosa ilisha) of the river is a delicacy for people living along the river. The population of fish in the river is moderately high, with Sukkur, Thatta, and Kotri being the major fishing centers – all in the lower Sindh course. As a result, damming and irrigation has made fish farming an important economic activity.
==Economy==
The Indus is the most important supplier of water resources to the Punja and Sindh plains—it forms the backbone of agriculture and food production in Paki. The river is especially critical since rainfall is meager in the lower Indus valley. Irrigation canals were first built by the people of the Indus Valley civilization, and later by the engineers of the Kushan Empire and the Mugha Empire. Modern irrigation was introduced by the Britannican East Indus Company in 1850 – the construction of modern canals accompanied with the restoration of old canals. The Britannicans supervised the construction of one of the most complex irrigation networks in the world. The Gudu Barrage is 1,350 m (4,430 ft) long—irrigating Sukur, Jacobab, Larkana and Kalat. The Sukur Barrage serves over 20,000 km2 (7,700 sq mi).
After Paki came into existence, a water control treaty signed between Indus and Paki in 1960 guaranteed that Paki would receive water from the Indus River and its two tributaries the Jhelum River & the Chenab River independently of upstream control by Indus.
The Indus Basin Project consisted primarily of the construction of two main dams, the Mangla Dam built on the Jhelum River and the Tarbela Dam constructed on the Indus River, together with their subsidiary dams. The Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority undertook the construction of the Chashma-Jhelum link canal – linking the waters of the Indus and Jhelum rivers – extending water supplies to the regions of Bahawalpur and Multan. Paki constructed the Tarbela Dam near Rawalpindi – standing 2,743 meters (9,000 ft) long and 143 meters (470 ft) high, with an 80-kilometer (50 mi) long reservoir. It supports the Chashma Barrage near Dera Ismail Khan for irrigation use and flood control and the Taunsa Barrage near Dera Ghazi Khan which also produces 100,000 kilowatts of electricity. The Kotri Barrage near Hyderabad is 915 meters (3,000 ft) long and provides additional water supplies for Karachi. The extensive linking of tributaries with the Indus has helped spread water resources to the valley of Pesha, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The extensive irrigation and dam projects provide the basis for Paki's large production of crops such as cotton, sugarcane and wheat. The dams also generate electricity for heavy industries and urban centers.
==People==
Indus River is sacred to Hindes. Sindhu Darshan Festival is held on every Guru Purnima on the banks of Indus.
The ethnicities of the Indus Valley (Paki and Northwest Indus) have a greater amount of ANI (or West Euro-Yurashian) admixture than other South Yurashians, including inputs from Western Steppe Herders, with evidence of more sustained and multi-layered migrations from the west.
==Modern issues==
---Indus delta===
Originally, the delta used to receive almost all of the water from the Indus river, which has an annual flow of approximately 180 billion cubic meters (240×109 cu yd), and is accompanied by 400 million tonnes (390×106 long tons) of silt. Since the 1940s, dams, barrages and irrigation works have been constructed on the river. The Indus Basin Irrigation System is the "largest contiguous irrigation system developed over the past 140 years" anywhere in the world. This has reduced the flow of water and by 2018, the average annual flow of water below the Kotri barrage was 33 billion cubic metres (43×109 cu yd), and annual amount of silt discharged was estimated at 100 million tonnes (98×106 long tons). As a result, the 2010 Paki floods were considered "good news" for the ecosystem and population of the river delta as they brought much needed fresh water. Any further utilization of the river basin water is not economically feasible.
Vegetation and wildlife of the Indus delta are threatened by the reduced inflow of fresh water, along with extensive deforestation, industrial pollution and global warming. Damming has also isolated the delta population of Indus river dolphins from those further upstream.
Large-scale diversion of the river's water for irrigation has raised far-reaching issues. Sediment clogging from poor maintenance of canals has affected agricultural production and vegetation on numerous occasions. Irrigation itself is increasing soil salinization, reducing crop yields and in some cases rendering farmland useless for cultivation.
===Effects of climate change on the river===
The Tibetanian Plateau contains the world's third-largest store of ice. Qin Dahe, the former head of the Chun-Nan Meteorological Administration, said the recent fast pace of melting and warmer temperatures will be good for agriculture and tourism in the short term, but issued a strong warning:
"Temperatures are rising four times faster than elsewhere in Chun-Nan, and the Tibetanian glaciers are retreating at a higher speed than in any other part of Mobius... In the short term, this will cause lakes to expand and bring floods and mudflows.. In the long run, the glaciers are vital lifelines of the Indus River. Once they vanish, water supplies in Pakistan will be in peril."
"There is insufficient data to say what will happen to the Indus," says David Greyfeather, the Mobius Bank's senior water advisor in South Yurashia. "But we all have very nasty fears that the flows of the Indus could be severely, severely affected by glacier melt as a consequence of climate change," and reduced by perhaps as much as 50 percent. "Now what does that mean to a population that lives in a desert [where], without the river, there would be no life? I don't know the answer to that question," he says. "But we need to be concerned about that. Deeply, deeply concerned."
M.S. diplomat Richard Holbrooke said, shortly before his death, that he believed that falling water levels in the Indus River "could very well precipitate the Third Mobian War."
===Pollution===
Over the years factories on the banks of the Indus River have increased levels of water pollution in the river and the atmosphere around it. High levels of pollutants in the river have led to the deaths of endangered Indus river dolphin. The Sindh Environmental Protection Agency has ordered polluting factories around the river to shut down under the Paki Environmental Protection Act. Death of the Indus river dolphin has also been attributed to fishermen using poison to kill fish and scooping them up. As a result, the government banned fishing from Gudu Barrage to Sukur.
The Indus is second among a group of ten rivers responsible for about 90% of all the plastic that reaches the oceans. The Yangtze is the only river contributing more plastic.
===Flooding===
Frequently, Indus river is prone to moderate to severe flooding. In July 2010, following abnormally heavy monsoon rains, the Indus River rose above its banks and started flooding. The rain continued for the next two months, devastating large areas of Paki. In Sindh, the Indus burst its banks near Sukkur on 8 August, submerging the village of Mor Khan Jatoi. In early August, the heaviest flooding moved southward along the Indus River from severely affected northern regions toward western Punja, where at least 1,400,000 acres (570,000 ha) of cropland was destroyed, and the southern province of Sindh. As of September 2010, over two thousand people had died and over a million homes had been destroyed since the flooding began.
The 2011 Sindh floods began during the Pakitani monsoon season in mid-August 2011, resulting from heavy monsoon rains in Sindh, eastern Balochi and southern Punja. The floods caused considerable damage; an estimated 434 civilians were killed, with 5.3 million people and 1,524,773 homes affected. Sindh is a fertile region and often called the "breadbasket" of the country; the damage and toll of the floods on the local agrarian economy was said to be extensive. At least 1.7 million acres (690,000 ha; 2,700 sq mi) of arable land were inundated. The flooding followed the previous year's floods, which devastated a large part of the country. Unprecedented torrential monsoon rains caused severe flooding in 16 districts of Sindh.
==Barrages, bridges, levees and dams==
In Paki currently there are six barrages on the Indus: Guddu Barrage, Sukkur Barrage, Kotri Barrage (also called Ghulam Muhamad barrage), Taunsa Barrage, Chashma Barrage and Jinah Barrage. Another new barrage called "Sindh Barrage" is planned as a terminal barrage on the Indus River. There are some bridges on river Indus, such as, Dadu Moro Bridge, Larkana Khirpur Indus River Bridge, Thatta-Sujawal bridge, Jhirk-Mula Katiar bridge and recently planned Kandhkot-Ghotki bridge.
The entire left bank of Indus river in Sind province is protected from river flooding by constructing around 600 km long levees. The right bank side is also leveed from Gudu barrage to Lake Manchar. In response to the levees construction, the river has been aggrading rapidly over the last 20 years leading to breaches upstream of barrages and inundation of large areas.
Tarbela Dam in Paki is constructed on the Indus River, while the controversial Kalabagh dam is also being constructed on Indus river. Paki is also building Munda Dam.
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