Sutlej
Sutlej is a mapped river in the YearMaps hydrographic index. Bhakra Dam stands on this watercourse and is written up below. River courses organise settlement, agriculture and frontier-making more durably than any political boundary, and this reach is indexed against the dams, lakes and cities within its catchment.
- Feature Class
- River
- Dams Recorded
- 1
- Coordinates
- 31.00°, 76.17°
About Sutlej
The Sutlej River or the Satluj River is a major river in Asia, flowing through China, India and Pakistan, and is the longest of the five major rivers of the Punjab region. It is also known as Satadru; and is the easternmost tributary of the Indus River. The combination of the Sutlej and Chenab rivers in the plains of Punjab forms the Panjnad, which finally flows into the Indus River at Mithankot.
In India, the Bhakra Dam is built on the Sutlej River to provide irrigation and other facilities to the states of Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana.
The waters of the Sutlej are allocated to India under the Indus Waters Treaty between India and Pakistan, and are mostly diverted to irrigation canals in India like the Sirhind Canal, Bhakra Main Line and the Rajasthan canal. The mean annual flow is 14 million acre feet (MAF) (roughly 1.727 × 1013 L) upstream of Ropar barrage, downstream of the Bhakra dam. It has several major hydroelectric points, including the 1,325 MW Bhakra Dam, the 1,000 MW Karcham Wangtoo Hydroelectric Plant, and the 1,500 MW Nathpa Jhakri Dam. The drainage basin in India includes the states and union territories of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Ladakh and Haryana.
Encyclopedic summary adapted from Wikipedia: Sutlej (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Sutlej in Depth
Course
The river originates from Langchen Kabab in the Tibetan plateau, at the lakes of Manasarovar and Rakshastal at the southern slope of Mount Kailash, which is about 4,570 metres above sea-level. It is fed from snow and glaciers. The source of the Sutlej is west of the catchment area of Lake Rakshastal in Tibet (also called La'angcuo, adjacent to lake Manasarovar), as springs in an ephemeral stream. Lake Rakshastal used to be part of the Sutlej river basin long ago and separated from the Sutlej due to tectonic activity. The nascent river flows at first west-northwest for about 260 kilometres (160 mi) under the Tibetan name Langqên Zangbo (Elephant River or Elephant Spring) through the Tibetan province of Nari-Khorsam to the Shipki La pass, entering India in Himachal Pradesh state at Khab.
Geology
Sutlej is an antecedent river, which existed before the Himalayas and entrenched itself while they were rising. The Sutlej, along with all of the Punjab rivers, is thought to have drained east into the Ganges prior to 5 mya.
There is substantial geologic evidence to indicate that prior to 1700 BC, and perhaps much earlier, the Sutlej was an important tributary of the Ghaggar-Hakra River (thought to be the legendary Sarasvati River) rather than the Indus, with various authors putting the redirection from 2500 to 2000 BC, from 5000 to 3000 BC, or before 8000 BC. Geologists believe that tectonic activity created elevation changes which redirected the flow of Sutlej from the southeast to the southwest.
Background
Earlier the river was also called Shutudri or Zaradros river, a name which was mentioned in the Hindu texts. Shutudri was its Sanskrit name. In the Chaitra-Ratha Parva of Adi Parva of Mahābhārata, when sage Vasishtha wanted to commit suicide he saw the river named Haimāvata (whose source is Himavat), flooded and full of crocodiles and other aquatic monsters. So he jumped into the river. The river thinking that Vasishtha was a mass of unquenchable fire dilated itself and flew in a hundred different directions. Henceforth the river was named śatadra (or śatadru) which means the river of a hundred courses. So, Vasishtha landed on dry land and was unharmed.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Sutlej (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Sutlej: Key Facts
| Length | 1,500 km |
|---|---|
| Drainage basin | 395,000 km² |
| Source | Lake Rakshastal |
| Mouth | Panjnad River |
| Drainage system | Indus basin |
| Tributaries | Baspa River, Spiti River, Beas River |
Facts from Wikidata Q171675 (CC0).
Bhakra Dam
Bhakra Dam
Concrete Gravity dam · Himachal Pradesh, India
Bhakra Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Sutlej in Himachal Pradesh, India, standing 226 m (741 ft) high and completed in 1963. It carries an installed hydroelectric capacity of 1,325 MW. The structure impounds Gobind Sagar, about 214 km² on the map.
Bhakra Nangal Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Satluj River in Bhakra Village in Bilaspur district, Himachal Pradesh in northern India. The dam forms the Gobind Sagar reservoir. Nangal Dam is another dam at Nangal in Punjab downstream of Bhakra Dam. However, sometimes both the dams together are called Bhakra-Nangal Dam though they are two separate dams. It is the second tallest dam in Asia.
The dam is located at a gorge near the (now submerged) upstream Bhakra village in Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh and is of height 226 m. The length of the dam (measured from the road above it) is 518.25 m and the width is 9.1 m. Its reservoir known as "Gobind Sagar" stores up to 9.34 billion cubic metres of water. The 90 km long reservoir created by the Bhakra Dam is spread over an area of 168.35 km2. In terms of storage of water, it is the third largest reservoir in India, the first being Indira Sagar dam in Madhya Pradesh with capacity of 12.22 billion cubic meters and the second being Nagarjunasagar Dam in Telangana.
Sir Chhotu Ram is regarded as the father of Bakhra Dam. He conceptualised the idea of this dam in early 1923.
Adapted from Wikipedia: Bhakra Dam (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Dam type
- Concrete Gravity
- Structural height
- 226 m (741 ft)
- Installed capacity
- 1,325 MW
- Impounded river
- Sutlej
- Reservoir
- Gobind Sagar
- Location
- Himachal Pradesh, India
- Year completed
- 1963
- Height rank
- #13 of 115 indexed
- Output rank
- #43 of 102 indexed
- Coordinates
- 31.4097°, 76.4358°
Notable: Second highest dam in India (226 m); dedicated by Nehru as a 'Temple of Resurgent India'.
Among the 115 dams indexed in YearMaps, Bhakra Dam ranks #13 by structural height, behind Jinping-I Dam (305 m). By installed generating capacity it ranks #43, behind Three Gorges Dam (22,500 MW).
The Reservoir: Gobind Sagar Reservoir
Gobind Sagar Reservoir is the water body held back by Bhakra Dam, with a mapped surface of about 214 km², impounded in 1962. The area is computed from the mapped outline and is approximate.
Nearest cities: Hoshiarpur (45 km), Ludhiana (76 km), Simla (78 km).
More about Bhakra Dam
History
The Bhakra-Nangal multipurpose dams were among the earliest river valley development schemes undertaken by India after independence, though the project had been conceived long before India became a free nation. Sir Chhotu Ram is widely regarded as father of the Bhakra Dam. He conceptualised the Bakhra Dam in early 1923. Later, the agreement for this project was signed by the then Punjab revenue minister, Sir Chhotu Ram with the Raja of Bilaspur in November 1944 and the project plan was finalised on 8 January 1945. Preliminary works commenced in 1946. Construction of the dam started in 1948; Jawaharlal Nehru poured the first bucket of concrete into the dry riverbed of the Sutlej on 17 November 1955, as a symbolic initiation of the work.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Bhakra Dam (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Major River Dossiers
Hand-written studies of the great river systems of history.
Connected Reaches
Nearby watercourses in the same drainage network.
Water Bodies in the Catchment
Settlements Along the Reach
Hydraulic Infrastructure Nearby
Surrounding Terrain
Sutlej: Quick Answers
- Where is Sutlej?
- Sutlej is located in India and Pakistan and China, at 31.0045° N, 76.1674° E.
- Are there dams on the Sutlej?
- Yes. YearMaps records one dam on the Sutlej: Bhakra Dam.
- How tall is Bhakra Dam?
- Bhakra Dam is 226 metres (741 ft) high and was completed in 1963.