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The Poonch River (also known as Punch River, Punch Tohi, Tohi of Punch) is a tributary of the
Jhelum River The Jhelum River (/dʒʰeːləm/) is a river in the northern Indian subcontinent. It originates at Verinag and flows through the Indian administered territory of Jammu and Kashmir, to the Pakistani-administered territory of Kashmir, and then ...
that flows through Jammu and Kashmir in
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 ...
, and
Azad Jammu and Kashmir Azad Jammu and Kashmir (; ), abbreviated as AJK and colloquially referred to as simply Azad Kashmir, is a region administered by Pakistan as a nominally self-governing entitySee: * * * and constituting the western portion of the larger K ...
in
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
.


Name

According to
Georg Bühler Professor Johann Georg Bühler (July 19, 1837 – April 8, 1898) was a scholar of ancient Indian languages and law. Early life and education Bühler was born to Rev. Johann G. Bühler in Borstel, Hanover, attended grammar school in Hanover, whe ...
, the ancient form of the word Tohi is Taushi mentioned in the Rājataraṅgiṇī and the Nīlamata Purāṇa. In the latter work, Āpagā (Aik Nala of
Sialkot Sialkot ( ur, ) is a city located in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the capital of Sialkot District and the 13th most populous city in Pakistan. The boundaries of Sialkot are joined with Jammu (the winter capital of Indian administered Jammu and Ka ...
), Tauśī and Candrabhāgā are named together. Probably, the word is connected with the
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
''tuṣāra'', 'cold', i.e. 'snow'.


Course

The river originates in the south-facing foothills of
Pir Panjal The Pir Panjal Range ( Kashmiri: ) is a group of mountains in the Lesser Himalayan region, running from east-southeast (ESE) to west-northwest (WNW) across the Indian territories of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir and then Pakistan's ...
range, in the areas of Neel-Kanth Gali and Jamian Gali. It is called 'Siran' (Suran) in this area. It flows south and then west until it reaches the town of
Poonch Poonch, sometimes also spelt Punchh, may refer to: * Historical Poonch District, a district in the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in British India, split in 1947 between: ** Poonch district, India ** Poonch Division, in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan, ...
, after which it bends southwest, finally draining into the Mangla Reservoir near Chomukh. The towns of
Poonch Poonch, sometimes also spelt Punchh, may refer to: * Historical Poonch District, a district in the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in British India, split in 1947 between: ** Poonch district, India ** Poonch Division, in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan, ...
, Sehra, Tatta Pani, Kotli and Mirpur are situated on the banks of this river.


Tributaries

Frederic Drew Frederick Drew FGS, FRGS (11 August 1836 – 28 October 1891), was an English geologist, who is noted for his geographical study of Kashmir. He worked as a geologist for over a decade in Maharaja Ranbir Singh's government and also served as the ...
wrote of the Poonch river in 1875: The prominent tributaries of the river are: * Mandi (), * Nimbal Katha (), * Darungli (), * Betaar (), * Ranguri (), * Rangar (), * Menthar (), * Nail (), * Baan (), * Mahuli (), and * Khad (). The Betaar Nala, which originates in the Azad Kashmir's
Haveli District The Haveli District ( ur, ) is one of the 10 districts of Pakistan's dependent territory of Azad Kashmir. It was previously a tehsil of the Bagh District but was elevated to district status on 1 July 2009. According to the 2017 census, the dist ...
and flows southwest to join the Poonch river near the Poonch town, is sometimes called the 'Punch River'. (The upstream part of Poonch river is then called the Suran river.)


Environment

The
Mughal Road Mughal Road is the road between Bufliaz, a town in the Poonch district, to the Shopian district, in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, India. The 84-kilometre roadhttp://www.greaterkashmir.com/full_story.asp?Date=6_12_2008&ItemID=35 ...
from
Shopian Shopian or Shupiyan (), known as Shupyan () in Kashmiri, is an administrative division of the Shopian district, located in southern part of Kashmir Valley, of Jammu and Kashmir, India. Shopian is called the ''Apple town of Kashmir'' as majorit ...
circles around the origin of the Poonch River and runs along its banks. The Parnai hydropower project, under construction near Bafliaz in India's Poonch district, is expected to generate 37.5 Mega Watt power and also irrigate vast tracts of agricultural land in the district. The project was set for completion in 2017–18 but is delayed. The 100 MW Gulpur Hydropower Project is located on this river in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.


Notes


References


External links


Poonch River marked on OpenStreetMap
retrieved 19 January 2021. Rivers of Azad Kashmir Rivers of Jammu and Kashmir Poonch District, Pakistan Rivers of Pakistan Rivers of India