The Song River is a river in Dehradun district that drains the central and eastern part of the

Doon Valley The Doon Valley is an unusually wide, long valley within the Sivalik Hills and the Lesser Himalayas, in the Indian states of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana. Within the valley lies the city of Dehradun, the capital of Uttarakhand st ...

, in the state of

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

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 ...

. A tributary of Sooswa river, which in turn is a tributary of the

Ganges The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

, it originates as spring-fed stream in the southern slopes of the Radi Top of

Mussoorie Mussoorie is a hill station and a municipal board, near Dehradun city in the Dehradun district of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is about from the state capital of Dehradun and north of the national capital of New Delhi. The hill s ...

ridge of the

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

n range and runs from

Dhanaulti Dhanaulti is a quiet hill station at an elevation of 2286 meters above sea level, it offers panoramic views of the lofty Himalayas. Situated in the foothills of the Garhwal Himalayan range located from New Tehri, the district headquarter, 6 ...

towards

Narendranagar Narendranagar is a town and a municipal board in Tehri Garhwal district in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. Geography Narendranagar is located at . It has an average elevation of 1,020 metres (3,349 feet). Demographics India census, ...

. As is common in hilly areas, there are several streams running south from the mountains that merge into one river that emerges from the hills a little after Sahastradhara. Song is one of the largest rivers that drain the Doon Valley traversing , and its tributaries includes, Kali Gad , Bindal River and Rispana River.

Sahastradhara

It is a popular scenic spot for the nature lovers, based on the banks of a tributary of the Song, the Kali Gad. It was more famous for its healing sulphur springs but is now more of a picnic spot with families crowding the waters in the summer.

Hydrology

The Kali Gad merges into the main Song river east of the Kalinga Hill. After this confluence, the Song is a broad river valley, larger than its western counterpart - The Assan River . The river now flows through the valley in a south-eastern direction passing through the regions of Harrawala and Doiwala. It is a perennial river, however the water surges during the monsoon as can be seen from the bridge at Doiwala. The river proceeds southward till it merges with the Sooswa river. The Sooswa in turn originates from the southern

Shivalik range The Sivalik Hills, also known as the Shivalik Hills and Churia Hills, are a mountain range of the outer Himalayas that stretches over about from the Indus River eastwards close to the Brahmaputra River, spanning the northern parts of the Indian ...

separating the Doon valley from Saharanpur district and

Haridwar district Haridwar district () also spelled as ''Hardwar'' is a district in Garhwal which is a part of Uttarakhand, India. It is headquartered at Haridwar which is also its largest city. The district is ringed by the districts Dehradun in the north and e ...

, collecting water from several small streams, including the once perennial Rispana. It flows westwards to Doiwala and can be seen through thick forest from the train running from Haridwar to Dehradun. The river then flows through the forest of Kansrao before its confluence with the Ganges at Raiwala.

Irrigation

The Song River has a great significance in the field of irrigation of various agricultural areas of Dehradun. A canal was constructed in the 18th century from the River at Kalinga, Maldevta to irrigate the large agricultural area of Raipur. The areas of Balawala, Nathuawala, Nakronda, Gularghati, Harrawala and Ranjhawala are the ones which are benefitted with this Irrigation Canal System. Various other canals are drawn out from this River at Lachhiwala to irrigate the large agricultural area of Doiwala. The areas of Bhaniyawala, Jolly Grant, Badowala are the ones benefitted with this Irrigation Canal System.

References

{{coord, 30, 02, N, 78, 15, E, display=title, region:IN_type:river_source:GNS-enwiki Rivers of Uttarakhand Geography of Dehradun Dehradun district Rivers of India