Punjab is made of two words Pun(five) + Aab(water) . This literally means a lands which is drained by five rivers. These five rivers are Satluj, Beas, Ravi, Jhelum and Chenab.
We can divide Punjab into following categories according to relief and its physical structure:
- Northern Shivalik Hills
- Great Alluvial Punjab Plain
- South Western Semi Arid Region
NorthernShivalik Hills:
This is also called ‘Kandi’ area in the local language. This is small hilly region. These hills are located at the foothills of the Himalayas. This region extends from east to west along the Himachal Pradesh stage boundary. Height of hills is not very high in this region. Green lush vegetation is found is this region.
Great Alluvial Punjab Plain
The state of Punjab is situated in the Indo-Gangetic alluvial plains, also called as Great Plains.
Most of the land of Punjab is an alluvial plain formed by the sedimentation deposited by many rivers flowing through this land.
The main rivers of Punjab are
- Satluj,
- Beas and
These rivers are fed by the waters from melting of snow in Himalayas, so these are perennial.
The water level in semi-hilly areas in Shivalik hills, which includes parts of Pathankot, Hoshiarpur and Ropar districts, is very deep.
There is problem of water logging in many parts of Fazilka and Muktsar districts. In these areas, water can be found at a depth of 2-4 meters, but this cannot be used for irrigation or drinking purpose.
In the plains of Punjab, the average elevation above the sea level is around 180 meters to 330 meters. The slope of land is from Northeast to Southwest direction. The slightly hilly areas of Hoshiarpur and Ropar districts, which are located along the Shivalik hills, have elevation of above 500 meters.
Pathankot railway station in the northeast corner is at 330 meters and the Abohar railway station in the southwest corner is at a height of 180 meters above sea level.
Punjab lies in the seismic zone III and IV. Half of the state from the Shivalik hills side is in zone IV which includes Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Ropar, Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana, Jalandhar districts. The districts is seismic zone III are – Firozpur, Fazilka, Mansa, Sangrur, Moga, Patiala and Bathinda.
South Western Semi Arid Region:
This region is with the boundary of Rajasthan and Pakistan. Due to the presence of Thardesert, this area is arid to semi arid. Thardesert extends to Southern part of Punjab.
It includes areas of Fazilka and Muktsar districts. This area is at the edge of Thardesert, which is largest desert in Asia.
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