The Ranikhola is a river in

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Siligur ...

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 ...

, that flows near the state capital

Gangtok Gangtok is a city, municipality, the capital and the largest populated place of the Indian state of Sikkim. It is also the headquarters of the East Sikkim district, Gangtok District. Gangtok is in the eastern Himalayas, Himalayan range, at an e ...

. It is a tributary of the

Teesta River Teesta River is a long river that rises in the Pauhunri Mountain of eastern Himalayas, flows through the Indian states of Sikkim and West Bengal through Rangpur, and enters the Bay of Bengal. It drains an area of . In India, it flows through ...

. The Mangar queen committed suicide on this river after the death of her husband at Mangarzong in 1642, so this river is named Ranikhola. Ranikhola originates from Himalayas and flows below Gangtok where it is joined by Ratey River and flows towards Ranipool where it is again joined by another river called Roro River, than the river borders villages of Gangtok Subdivision in

Gangtok District Gangtok District, formerly the East Sikkim district, is an administrative district of the Indian state of Sikkim. It was renamed in 2021 as a result of administrative reorganisation of the state, which also saw three subdivisions of the East ...

and Pakyong Subdivision of

Pakyong District Pakyong district is a district in the Indian state of Sikkim, administered from Pakyong. The district was formed in 2021 from three former subdivisions of the East Sikkim district, viz., Pakyong Subdivision, Rangpo Subdivision and Rongli Subdiv ...

. National Highway 10 runs parallel to Rani khola from

Ranipool Ranipool is a small suburban town located in the bank of river Ranikhola at the junction of National Highway 10 and National Highway 717A in Gangtok District of the Indian state of Sikkim. It is 12 km before from Gangtok main town. It ha ...

Singtam Singtam is a town which lies mostly in Gangtok District and partly in Pakyong District in the Indian state of Sikkim about from the state capital Gangtok. The town lies on the banking of the rivers Teesta and Ranikhola, which join together just ...

and then the river ultimately flows into River Teesta at Singtam.

Hydropower project

The first hydropower project commissioned in Sikkim was a micro-hydel on Rani Khola below Gangtok in 1927. This one had an installed capacity of 50 kW.

References

Rivers of Sikkim Rivers of India Tributaries of the Teesta River {{India-river-stub