The Dras River, also spelt Drass River, is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

in the Kargil district in the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n union territory of

Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory which constitutes a part of the larger Kashmir region and has been the subject of dispute between India, Pakistan, and China since 1947. (subscription required) Quote: "Jammu and ...

. It originates below the

Zoji La Zoji La (sometimes Zojila Pass) is a high mountain pass in the Himalayas. It is in the Indian Union territory of Ladakh, Kargil district, Kashmir. Located in the Drass, the pass connects the Kashmir Valley to its west, with the Drass ...

pas in the Great Himalayan range and flows northeast towards

Kargil Kargil ( lbj, ) is a city and a joint capital of the union territory of Ladakh, India. It is also the headquarters of the Kargil district. It is the second-largest city in Ladakh after Leh. Kargil is located to the east of Srinagar in Jam ...

, where it joins the Suru River. The

Shingo River The Shingo River is a tributary of the Indus River, and flows through Gilgit-Baltistan and Kargil regions. In the Kashmiri terminology, the Shingo river joins the Dras River, which in turns joins the Suru River. In the Balti terminology, ...

, which flows in a parallel direction in Pakistan-administered

Baltistan Baltistan ( ur, ; bft, སྦལ་ཏི་སྟཱན, script=Tibt), also known as Baltiyul or Little Tibet ( bft, སྦལ་ཏི་ཡུལ་།, script=Tibt), is a mountainous region in the Pakistani-administered territory of Gilg ...

, also joins the Drass River. The combined river is alternatively called Suru, Drass and Shingo by various local groups. The Drass River valley is traversed by the National Highway 1D that connects Srinagar in Kashmir with

Leh Leh () ( lbj, ) is the joint capital and largest city of Ladakh, a union territory of India. Leh, located in the Leh district, was also the historical capital of the Kingdom of Ladakh, the seat of which was in the Leh Palace, the former res ...

in Ladakh. It represents a historic trade route.

Course

The Dras River is long and flows entirely in the Dras Valley. Its

source Source may refer to: Research * Historical document * Historical source * Source (intelligence) or sub source, typically a confidential provider of non open-source intelligence * Source (journalism), a person, publication, publishing institute o ...

lies in the

Machoi Glacier The Machoi Glacier is a 9 kilometer long glacier in the Himalayan Range in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, India. Geography It is situated 30 kilometer west from Drass, Ladakh, India and 8 kilometers east from Sonamarg on the southern side o ...

near Zojila Pass, the gateway to

, east of

Sonamarg Sonamarg () or Sonmarg (), known as Sonamarag (; ) in Kashmiri, is a hill station located in the Ganderbal District The Ganderbal district, or more formally District Ganderdal, is a district in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, I ...

and east of Srinagar, the summer capital (May - October) of Jammu and Kashmir. The Machoi Glacier is also the source of the

Sind River The Sind River or the Sindh River is a river in the Ganderbal district of the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is a major tributary of the Jhelum River and is 108 kilometres long. Geography The Sind River forms the Sind ...

, which flows through the neighbouring

Kashmir Valley The Kashmir Valley, also known as the ''Vale of Kashmir'', is an intermontane valley concentrated in the Kashmir Division of the Indian- union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The valley is bounded on the southwest by the Pir Panjal Range and ...

in the opposite direction to the Dras River. The Dras River flows northeast, fed by many glacial streams.

NH 1D National Highway 1 (NH 1) in India runs between the union territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. It comprises parts of old NH1A and NH1D. The number 1 indicates, under the new numbering system, that it is the northernmost East-Wes ...

, a national highway connecting Srinagar with Ladakh (

and

), runs parallel to the river. The river forms the Dras Valley at Dras, where it is joined by two tributaries, the Mashko Nala and Gamru Nala, which originate in the glaciers of Mashko Valley. In the Dras Valley, the road connecting Dras and

Gurais Gurez, or Gurais (''Guráai'' in the local Shina language), is a valley located in the high Himalayas, about from Bandipore and from Srinagar, to the north of the Kashmir valley. At about above sea level, the valley is surrounded by snow-cap ...

runs parallel to the river. Singomeetsdras

The

joins the Dras River at Latoo near Kaksar, and doubles the flow of the river. The Shingo River originates in the Chota Deosai Plains north of Minimarg (

Astore District Astore District ( ur, ) is one of the 14 districts of the Pakistani-administered territory of Gilgit−Baltistan. Its administrative headquarters are located at Eidgah in the Astore Valley. The Astore District is bounded by Gilgit District to ...

Gilgit-Baltistan Gilgit-Baltistan (; ), formerly known as the Northern Areas, is a region administered by Pakistan as an administrative territory, and constituting the northern portion of the larger Kashmir region which has been the subject of a dispute bet ...

) and flows east. The combined Dras and Shingo rivers join the Suru River at Kharul, north of the town of

. The Suru River is a left tributary of the

Indus River The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...

. It originates from the Panzella glacier near

Pensi La Pensi-la (Pensi Pass) is a mountain pass in the Ladakh union territory of India, which is known as the Gateway to Zanskar. Pensi La is above sea level and connects the Suru Valley region to the Zanskar Valley region. The summit at this end of ...

, flows northwards and merges with the

at Nurla in Pakistan-administered

, north of its confluence with the Dras River. It enters the Pakistani-Administered Kashmir at Post 43 of India or Post 44 of Pakistan.

Habitation

The Dras River flows through the towns of

Matayan For Hinduism in India, the Matayan is the sole authority to administer the Muthappan temple, found in the Kannur district of Kerala state, south India. See also * Sree Muthappan *Muthappan temple Parassinikadavu Muthappan temple is a temple, ...

, Pandrass, Troungjen, Dras, Bhimbat, Thasgam, Shimsha, Kharbu and Kakshar. The largest settlement on its banks is Dras, which is the second-coldest inhabited place in the world after

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

. The water flow of the river increases during the late summer, due to the heavy melting of glaciers.

References

External links

Suru River basin on OpenStreetMap
including the Dras River {{Hydrography of Ladakh Rivers of Ladakh Geography of Ladakh Indus basin Rivers of India

Course

Habitation

References

Further reading

External links