Town planning was the unique feature of the Indus valley civilization. Their town planning proves that they lived a highly civilized and developed life. Discuss

Approach:

• Try to elaborate the statement in the introduction part. You can compare it with other civilizations of that time also.
• Try to discuss and mention all the details related to their town planning like streets, drainage system, buildings etc.
• Summarize your answer in short in the conclusion part.

Town planning is the unique feature of Indus valley civilization. Their town planning proves that they lived a highly civilized and developed life. Indus people were the first to build planned cities with scientific drainage system. The Indus cities were built on an uniform plan. Town planning was amazing in nature. A few cities have citadels to the West built on a higher platform and to the east of which is the hub of residential area. Both of them are surrounded by a massive brick wall.

The cities without citadel are found on high mounds.
STREETS
The streets were straight and cut each other at right angles. They were 13 to 34 feet wide and were well lined. The streets and roads divided the city into rectangular blocks. Archaeologists have discovered the lamp posts at intervals. This suggests the existence of street lights. Dustbins were also provided on the streets. These prove the presence of good municipal administration.

GRANARIES
The largest building in Mohenjodaro is granary which is 45.71 meters long and 15.23 meters wide. In Harappa, there are a series of brick platforms which formed the base for two rows of 6 granaries each. In the Southern part of Kalibangan brick platforms have also been found. These granaries safely stored the grains, which were probably collected as revenue or storehouses to be used in emergencies.

BUILDINGS
People of Indus valley civilization built houses and other buildings by the side of roads. They built terraced houses of burnt bricks. Every house had two or more rooms. There were also more than one-storied houses. The houses were designed around an inner courtyard and contained pillared halls, bath rooms, paved floors, kitchen, well etc. Besides residential quarters, elaborate structures have also been found. One of these buildings has got the biggest hall measuring 80 ft long and 80 ft wide. It might have been a palace or temple or hall for holding meetings. The workmen quarters are also found. There was an excellent system of water supply. There were public wells by the side of the streets. Every big house had its own well. They also built a dockyard at Lothal.

Indus Valley civilization thus has contributed many valuable imprints to human civilization. Perhaps no other Bronze Age civilization paid so much attention to town planning as did the Harappan.