Chenab River

A view of River Chenab near Sialkot

A View of Marala Headworks on Chenab near Sialkot

A view of Chandrabhagha River through Pangi valley in Himachal Pradesh

The Chenab River ( /tʃəˈnɑːb/, Sanskrit: चंद्रभाग/अक्सिनी, Punjabi: ਚਨਾਬ, canāb, Hindi: चनाब, Urdu: چناب, literally: 'Moon(Chan) چن River(aab)' آب) is a major river of Jammu and Kashmir and the Punjab in Pakistan. It forms in the upper Himalayas in the Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh, India, and flows through the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir into the plains of the Punjab, Pakistan. The waters of the Chenab are allocated to Pakistan under the terms of the Indus Waters Treaty.^[1][2]

Geography

The waters of the Chenab start from snow melt from the Bara Lacha Pass, 32°44′N 77°26′E / 32.733°N 77.433°E / 32.733; 77.433, in the Himachal Pradesh. The waters flowing south from the pass are known as the Chandra River and those that flow north are called the Bhaga River. Eventually the Bhaga flows around to the south joining the Chandra at the village of Tandi. A motorable road runs along the Bhaga River, from Khoskhas to Tandi. The Chandra and Bhaga meet to form the Chandrbhaga River at Tandi. It becomes the Chenab when it joins the Marau River at Bhandera Kot, 12 km from Kishtwar Town in Jammu and Kashmir.

It flows from the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir into the plains of the Punjab, forming the boundary between the Rechna and Jech interfluves (Doabs in Persian). It is joined by the Jhelum River at Trimmu تریمو and then by the Ravi River Ahmedpur Sial احمدپور سیال. It then merges with the Sutlej River near Uch Sharif, Pakistan to form the Panjnad or the 'Five Rivers', the fifth being the Beas River which joins the Satluj near Ferozepur, India. The Chenab then joins the Indus at Mithankot, Pakistan. The total length of the Chenab is approximately 960 kilometres.

History

The river was known to Indians in the Vedic period^[3] as Chandrabhaga (Sanskrit: चंद्रभाग), also Ashkini (Sanskrit: अश्किनि) or Iskmati (Sanskrit: इस्कामति) and as Acesines to the Ancient Greeks.^[4] In 325 BC, Alexander the Great allegedly founded the town of Alexandria on the Indus (present day Uch Sharif or Mithankot or Chacharan in Pakistan) at the confluence of the Indus and the combined stream of Punjab rivers (currently known as the Panjnad River).^[5]

The Chenab has the same place in the consciousness of the people of the Punjab as, say, the Rhine holds for the Germans, or the Danube for the Austrians and the Hungarians. It is the iconic river around which Punjabi consciousness revolves, and plays a prominent part in the tale of Heer Ranjha, the Punjabi national epic and the legend of Sohni Mahiwal.^{[citation needed]}

Chenab Today

Chenab in Indian City of Akhanoor

This river has been in the news of late due to the steps taken by the Indian government to build a number of hydro power dams along its length (in India), notably Baglihar Dam. This is a result of the Indus Basin Project. These planned projects on Chenab have been contested by Pakistan which says that India is continuously breaking the terms and clauses of the Indus water treaty by storing and channeling the waters of this river, a claim rejected by the Indian govt.

Bridges

Chenab is tributary to Indus river

There are several road and railway bridges on Chenab

• The river is crossed in Jammu and Kashmir by the world's highest railway bridge named Chenab Bridge
• At Marala Headworks a bridge links Gujrat and Sialkot districts of Punjab, Pakistan
• two road bridges at N5 National Highway and a railway bridge cross the river near Wazirabad
• further down stream another bridge at M-2 crosses the river (31°56′42″N 73°9′2″E / 31.945°N 73.15056°E / 31.945; 73.15056)
• there are railway & highway bridges down the stream near Chiniot (31°45′13″N 72°57′7″E / 31.75361°N 72.95194°E / 31.75361; 72.95194)
• moreover, there are road bridges over the river near Jhang (31°24′3″N 72°17′42″E / 31.40083°N 72.295°E / 31.40083; 72.295)

See also

Marala Headworks

Notes

1. ^ "River Chenab". http://waterinfo.net.pk/pdf/riverchenab.PDF. Retrieved 2007-06-17. 
2. ^ "Indus Waters Treaty". The World Bank. http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/0,,contentMDK:20320047~pagePK:146736~piPK:583444~theSitePK:223547,00.html. Retrieved 2007-06-17. 
3. ^ Yule, Henry; Arthur Coke Burnell, William Crooke. "Hobson-Jobson: A glossary of Anglo-Indian colloquial words & phrases and of kindred terms". Pg.741. http://books.google.com/books?id=6Z5iAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA741&dq=chenab+ancient+name. Retrieved 2009-05-29. 
4. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica article on the Chenab
5. ^ Alexandria (Uch)

References

- The Heaven on Earth

• My Bhaderwah - The Heaven on Earth
• http://www.travel-himalayas.com/rivers-himalayas/chandra-chenab-river.html

Coordinates: 31°11′20″N 72°11′57″E / 31.18889°N 72.19917°E / 31.18889; 72.19917