Development of Water Resources and the Indus River System

Vocabulary flashcards covering natural resources, the hydrological cycle, the Indus River system, tributaries, and underground water based on the lecture notes.

Natural Resource

Anything that satisfies human needs, such as land, air, water, and plants.

Renewable Resources

Resources that can be recycled and used continuously over and over, including sunlight, tidal power, wind power, sustainable soil, and vegetation.

Non-renewable Resources

Resources that occur in limited quantities and will run out if used, such as fossil fuels and minerals.

Precipitation

Water that reaches the ground from the atmosphere in various forms, such as rain, snow, or hail.

Hydrological Cycle

The continuous process in which water evaporates from surface water bodies, rises into the atmosphere, cools to form droplets through condensation, and returns to the ground.

Indus River

The largest river of Pakistan that provides key water resources for the economy, supports heavy industries, originates at Lake Mansarowar in Tibet (China), and flows into the Arabian Sea.

Indus Basin

A basin covering an area of $1\text{ million km}^2$ inhabited by $150\text{ million}$ people, where the Indus system irrigates about $60\text{\%}$ of Pakistan and $20\text{ million hectares}$ of cultivable land.

Lake Mansarowar

The source of the river Indus located in Tibet, China.

Kalabagh

The site where the Indus River leaves the mountainous region and enters the plains of Punjab and Sindh.

Eastern Tributaries

The main tributaries of the Indus (Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Sutlej) that rise in the Himalayas, pass through Jammu, and enter the plain.

Western Tributaries

Rivers including Swat, Kabul, Kurram, Tochi, and Zhob that are smaller in length and width compared to the eastern tributaries.

Panjnad River

The river formed where the Sutlej joins the Chenab river, which flows as a unified river to join the Indus at Mithankot after $72\text{ km}$.

Braided River Channels

Depressions that are loaded with water only when there is heavy rainfall and otherwise remain dry.

Groundwater

Water available underground that can be sweet or saline (though not saline near recharge sources) and is brought to the surface by lift irrigation using shallow wells, tube wells, or the karez system.