PAKLINKS BANNER EXCHANGE
The Indus Plain is a vast region of some 200,000 square miles and constitutes the most prosperous agricultural region of Pakistan. The province of Punjab is in the northern part of this area. The literal meaning of "Punjab" is "the five waters," referring to the fact that five important tributaries of the Indus flow through Punjab (now divided between India and Pakistan so that one tributary is in India) and provide an invaluable supply of water. The greatest concentration of the country's population lives in Punjab, and Islamabad, the nation's capital, lies in this region.
The areas between the streams of water are known as doabs (""DOH-HB"") and improved irrigation techniques have made most of them very rich agriculturally. Pakistan has the largest artificial irrigation system in the world. The irrigation, however, is causing problems in the form of waterlogged soil and excessive salinity. The rate of evaporation is greater than the rate of rainfall, and therefore mineral salts accumulate in the
Farther south, the river enters a narrow gorge. It is here that it can most easily be harnessed for irrigation. Indeed, so much water is removed from the Indus for irrigation that big boats can no longer use the river, although small boats can navigate the final stage of the river's journey to the Arabian Sea. With the help of modern technology,
Pakistan is exploiting the river's value as a source of power and irrigation. Large dams have been constructed to hold back the summer floods and release the waters later into the numerous irrigation canals that now dot the landscape of Punjab and Sindh. Hydroelectric plants are also being constructed along the river in order to provide electricity for the industrial centers and towns of the Indus Plain water. As the salts find their way into the land, they slow down plant growth and increase the likelihood of the soil becoming infertile.
Pakistan's scientists are working on ways to neutralize the salinity; they are also working on developing a hardy wheat hybrid that will thrive in saline soil.
The four tributaries join the Indus in east-central Pakistan, and the southern part of the Indus Plain is known as the province of Sindh. The problem of salinity is more severe in Sindh than in any other region of the country.