Town planning of Indus Civilization

The Indus Valley people were primarily urban
people. Indus valley Civilization urban based Civilization.
Elaborative town-planning following the
Grid System.
Roads were well cut dividing the
town into large rectangular or square blocks.
Lamp posts at intervals indicate the existence of street lightening.

• Burnt bricks of good quality were used for building
material except in Rangpur and Kalibangan.
Elsewhere in the contemporary world mud bricks
were used.

• Houses were often of two or more storey, of
varying sizes but were quite monotonous – a square
courtyard around which were a number of rooms.
It is especially noteworthy that almost every house had its own wells, bathrooms, courtyards, drains and kitchens.
• There was a good drainage system and drains were
made of mortar, lime and gypsum and covered
with large brick slabs for easy access  which
shows a developed sense of health and sanitation.
Every house had its own soak-pit which collected
all the sediments and allowed only the water to
fl ow into the street drain. There were
special trenches constructed outside every city for
the rubbish to be thrown in them.
• The towns were divided into two parts: Upper
part or Citadel and the Lower part. The Citadel
was an belong to artificial platform some 30-50 feet
high and about some 400-200 yards in area. It was
enclosed by a thick (13 m in Harappa) crenellated
mud brick wall. The Citadel comprised of public
buildings whereas the lower part comprised of
public dwellings.
• In Mohenjodaro, a big public bath (Great Bath)
measuring 12 m by 7 m and 2.4 m deep has been
found. Steps led from either end to the surface,
with changing rooms alongside. The Great Bath
was probably used for ritual bathing.