Nyamjang Chu, or Nyashang Chu () is a cross-border perennial river that originates in the

Shannan Prefecture ShannanThe official spelling according to (), also romanized from Tibetan as Lhoka (; ), is a prefecture-level city in the southeastern Tibet Autonomous Region, China. Shannan includes Gonggar County within its jurisdiction with Gongkar Chö M ...

of Tibet and flows into the

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (, ) is a state in Northeastern India. It was formed from the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and became a state on 20 February 1987. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It shares int ...

state of India, joining the

Tawang Chu Tawang Chu is the main river of the Tawang district in Arunachal Pradesh, India. The entire district may be regarded as the basin of the Tawang Chu river. In addition, two south-flowing rivers from Tibet, viz., Tsona Chu and Nyamjang Chu, joi ...

river just before it enters

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous ...

. The Nyamjang Chu valley has provided the traditional communication route between

Tawang Tawang is a town and administrative headquarter of Tawang district in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. The town was once the capital of the Tawang Tract, which is now divided into the Tawang district and the West Kameng district. Tawang c ...

and

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

. The valley near town of

Zemithang Zemithang or Zimithang, also called Pangchen, is a village and the headquarters of an eponymous circle in the Tawang district of Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. It is on the bank of the Nyamjang Chu river, which originates in Tibet and enters In ...

in the Tawang district, called the Pangchen Valley, is known for its serene beauty and forms one of the wintering locations for the

black-necked crane The black-necked Crane (''Grus nigricollis'') is a medium-sized crane in Asia that breeds on the Tibetan Plateau and remote parts of India and Bhutan. It is 139 cm (55 in) long with a 235 cm (7.8 ft) wingspan, and it weighs ...

. The China–India border in the valley has been contested between the two countries since the 1950s, resulting in a clash at

Namka Chu Namka Chu or Kejielang River () is a tributary of Nyamjang Chu that flows along the disputed border between India and China. The Indian side of the border is the Tawang district in Arunachal Pradesh. The Tibetan side of the border is in Tsona ...

in 1962 and a standoff at Sumdorong Chu in 1986.

Course

Nyamjang Chu and Tawang Chu rivers mapped by Morshead and Bailey, 1913

The Nyamjang Chu river originates in the snow-clad peaks of the eastern Himalayas, north of Taga in the Chudromo township of the

Tsona County Tsona County () or Cona County () is a county in Shannan prefecture in southern part of Tibet region of China. The county lies immediately to the north of the McMahon Line agreed as the mutual border between British India and Tibet in 1914. Chin ...

, at an elevation of . Frederick Bailey and

Henry Morshead Henry Treise Morshead (23 November 1882 – 17 May 1931) was an English surveyor, explorer and mountaineer. He is remembered for several achievements – with Frederick Bailey he explored the Tsangpo Gorge and finally confirmed that the Yarlun ...

, explored the region in 1913. They crossed into the valley of Nyamjang Chu from that of Nye Chu via the Hor La pass. They give the name of the village as Gyao, which appears to be an older name of Taga. The land at this elevation was only good for grazing. The shepherds lit sheep-dung fires around the campsites to protect their flocks from the wolves. From this location, Nyamjang Chu flows southwards for about in Tibet, passing by several towns such as Chudromo, Dongkar, Gongri, Kyipa, Marmang and Le. South of Le (also spelt Lei and Lai), the river enters India at a location called

Khinzemane Dhola Post was a border post set up by the Indian Army in June 1962, at a location called Che Dong (), in the Namka Chu river valley area disputed by China and India. The area is now generally accepted to be north of the McMahon Line as drawn on ...

at an elevation of . The stream of Sumdorong Chu from the left and the river of

from the right join the river in this area. The border in this area has been disputed between India and China. The course of the river in India is through a steep gorge lined by dense mixed forest. The valley widens near

, where it is called the Pangchen valley. The streams of Sumta Chu (from the right) and Taktsang Chu (from the left) join Nyamjang Chu in this valley. The river flows mostly southwards in India for 40 km and joins the west-flowing

near Lumla. After the confluence, Tawang Chu enters Bhutan within a short distance where it merges with Kulong Chu to form the Manas River, a major tributary of

Brahmaputra The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river which flows through Tibet, northeast India, and Bangladesh. It is also known as the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibetan, the Siang/Dihang River in Arunachali, Luit in Assamese, and Jamuna River in Bangla. It ...

Flora and fauna

The Zemithang valley is one of the wintering locations for the

, a vulnerable species of which only 4,000 are believed to be alive as of 1996.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{citation , author=NJC Hydropower Limited , title=EIA study for Nyamjangchhu Hydroelectric Project , publisher=Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India , url=http://moef.gov.in/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/EIA-NJC.pdf , year=2017

External links

The course of the Nyamjang Chu
marked on OpenStreetMap

(photograph by Amar Grover), AWL Images, retrieved 10 July 2020. * Ranju Dodum
Lax policies cause of concern for conservation
'ranjuwrites' (blog), 13 April 2017. Rivers of Tibet Rivers of Arunachal Pradesh Shannan, Tibet Tawang district China–India border