One of the most distinctive features of the Harappan cities was the carefully planned drainage system. Elaborate.

Harappa had a well-planned drainage system. It was distinctive and well developed.

• The roads and streets were laid out along an approximate “grid” pattern, intersecting at right angles.

• The streets with drains were laid out first and then houses built along them.

• Each house had one wall along a street so that domestic waste water can be flowed out into the drains.

Thus a proper system of drainage was laid down so that no waste water gets collected on the streets. Hygiene and sanitation were its hallmarks.