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The 'Chenab River' (, , , , literally: 'Moon(''Chen'')
River(''ab'')') is formed by the confluence of the
Chandra and
Bhaga rivers at
Tandi located in the upper Himalayas in the
Lahul and Spiti District of
Himachal Pradesh, India. In its upper reaches it is also known as the ''. It flows through 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 and then by the
Ravi River. It then merges with the
Sutlej River near
Uch Sharif to form the Panjnad or the 'Five Rivers', the fifth being the
Beas River which joins the
Satluj near
Ferozepur, India. The Satluj then joins the
Indus at
Mithankot. The total length of the Chenab is approximately 960 kilometres. The waters of the Chenab are allocated to
Pakistan under the terms of the
Indus Waters Treaty.
[1][2]
The river was known to Indians in the Vedic period as '' () or ''Iskmati'' and as ''Acesines'' to the
Ancient Greeks[3]. In
325 BC,
Alexander the Great allegedly founded the town of
Alexandria on the Indus (present day
Uch Sharif or
Mithankot or Chacharan) at the confluence of the Indus and the combined stream of Punjab rivers (currently known as the
Panjnad River)
[4].
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.
This river has been in the news of late due to the steps taken by the Indian government to build a number of hydropower dams along its length (in
India) most notably the Baglihar hydel power project(expected time of completion 2008). This is a result of the
Indus Basin Project. These planned projects on Chenab have been hotly contested by Pakistan which says that India is breaking the terms and clauses of the Indus water treaty by storing and channelling the waters of this river, a claim totally rejected by the Indian government.
Railway
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Notes
1. River Chenab
2. Indus Waters Treaty
3.
4. Alexandria (Uch)
References
★ http://www.travel-himalayas.com/rivers-himalayas/chandra-chenab-river.html