Question

Examine why the majority of the known harappan settlements are located in the semi-arid areas where irrigation was probably required for agriculture.

Answer 1

Harappa and Mohenjo-daro were found when railway engineers were building a train line there and observed locals getting large blocks of stones from somewhere. The aridness preserved those cities as humidity can destroy most human artifacts. Also, the aridness prevented the future settlements of the area, while a fertile area would be settled a thousand times then.
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Answer 2

To believe that the major settlements of the Indus Valley Civilisation were found in the semi-arid areas with little precipitation is a misunderstanding because the climate pattern of the modern day sites of Indus valley civilization is not the identical as that of 5000 years ago.

Nowadays Thar desert and the neighboring regions were much wetter in the past, particularly 6000 to 3500 years and endured a good quantity of precipitation which encouraged an extensive variety of crop.

According to some paleo-environmental specialists and Excavators, within 2500 BCE and 1900 BCE some tectonic earthquakes prompted a slide in the topography of Northwest India which results in the movement of the river. The Sutlej flowed westward and became a stream of the Indus River while the Yamuna flowed eastward and became a stream of the Ganges.”

The consequent drying up of the river which caused the field to be decertified and the civilization discontinued existing.