Hot Springs, Chang Chenmo Valley
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__NOTOC__ Hot Springs (traditional name: Kyam) is a campsite and the location of an Indian
border outpost A border outpost, border out post, border observation post or BOPChang Chenmo River Chang Chenmo River or Changchenmo River is a tributary of the Shyok River, part of the Indus River system. It is at the southern edge of the disputed Aksai Chin region and north of the Pangong Lake basin in Ladakh. The source of Chang Chenmo ...
valley in
Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory and constitutes an eastern portion of the larger Kashmir region that has been the subject of a Kashmir#Kashmir dispute, dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947 and India an ...
near the disputed border with
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
. It is so named because there is a
hot spring A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a Spring (hydrology), spring produced by the emergence of Geothermal activity, geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow ...
at this location. The
Line of Actual Control The Line of Actual Control (LAC), in the context of the Sino-Indian border dispute, is a notional demarcation lineAnanth KrishnanLine of Actual Control , India-China: the line of actual contest, 13 June 2020: "In contrast, the alignment of ...
near
Kongka Pass The Kongka Pass or Kongka La () is a low mountain pass on the Line of Actual Control between India and China in eastern Ladakh. It lies on a spur of the Karakoram range that intrudes into the Chang Chenmo Valley adjacent to the disputed Aksai ...
is only to the east.


Name

Historically, the name for the hot spring was ''Kyam'' (''Kiam'', ''Kayam''). The Chinese still refer to it by this name.


Geography

Geologist Frederic Drew states that the Chang Chenmo river flows on a barren gravel bed, with occasional
alluvial Alluvium (, ) is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluvium is also sometimes called alluvial deposit. Alluvium is ...
patches where vegetation is found. Hot Springs is one such location. In the vicinity are also other such patches, named Pamzal,
Tsogtsalu __NOTOC__ Tsogtsalu or Tsolu is a pasture and campsite in the Ladakh union territory of India, in the Chang Chenmo Valley close India's border with China. It is located at the confluence of the Rimdi Chu river that flows down from Marsemik La ...
(or ''Tsolu'') and Gogra. They were historical halting places for travellers and trading caravans, with a supply of water, fuel and fodder. Nomadic Ladakhi graziers also used them for grazing cattle. A large tributary called Kugrang joins the Chang Chenmo River near Hot Springs. Gogra is in the valley of the Kugrang River, northwest of Hot Springs. The Changlung River flows in from the northeast to join Kugrang at this location. According to the ''Gazetteer of Kashmir and Ladak'', there are "celebrated" hot springs at Kyam, which were visited by the Ladakhis of the Pangong district and the Tibetans of the
Rudok Rudok, also spelt Rutok and Rutog, more properly Rudok Dzong (), is a town that served as the historical capital of the Rudok area in Western Tibet on the frontier with Ladakh. In the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, it is described as being "pict ...
district. The water had a temperature of in August and was suffused with soda and sulphur. The local people believed that it was beneficial for ailments like rheumatism. The springs are believed to arise from the geological fault represented by the Changchenmo Valley, which separates the Paleozoic, Triassic and Jurassic rocks of the Karakoram range to the north from the older Paleozoic rocks to the south.


Transport

Within India, it is reachable via
Tsogtsalu __NOTOC__ Tsogtsalu or Tsolu is a pasture and campsite in the Ladakh union territory of India, in the Chang Chenmo Valley close India's border with China. It is located at the confluence of the Rimdi Chu river that flows down from Marsemik La ...
, which is further connected to mainland India via two motorable roads, the " Phobrang-Marsimik La-Tsogtsalu-Hot Springs Road" (PMTHR) or "Marsimik La Road" via
Phobrang Phobrang is a settlement in the Indian union territory of Ladakh. It is near Lukung on the way the Indo-China border at the Hot Springs. It is the last village of Ladakh in this direction, at an elevation of . Phobrang is in the Leh distric ...
-
Marsimik La Marsimik La or Marsemik La, also called Lankar La, elevation is a high mountain pass in the Chang Chenmo Range in the Indian union territory of Ladakh, east of Leh as the crow flies. Ladakh's route to the Chang Chenmo Valley traverses the p ...
-Tsogstsalu to Hot Springs,India boosts road links to LAC standoff points
Indian Express, 2 July 2023.
and via the other alternate route the 55 km long " Changchenmo-Tsogtsalu Road" (CTR) from confluence of Changchenmo &
Shyok River The Shyok River (sometimes spelled Shayok) is a major tributary of the Indus River that flows through northern Ladakh in India and into Gilgit-Baltistan in Pakistan. Originating from the Central Rimo Glacier in the eastern Karakoram, it runs f ...
to Tsogtsalu.


History

In the late 1800s, the Maharaja Ranbir Singh at the request of the British made improvements to the trails and facilities of the Gogra campsite in order to improve trade with Yarkand. The valley was also a popular hunting spot for British officers on leave. In Autumn 1959, the
Kongka Pass incident The Kongka Pass or Kongka La () is a low mountain pass on the Line of Actual Control between India and China in eastern Ladakh. It lies on a spur of the Karakoram range that intrudes into the Chang Chenmo Valley adjacent to the disputed Aksai ...
occurred near here. At the time, the
Central Reserve Police Force The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is a central armed police force in India under the Ministry of Home Affairs. The CRPF assists states and Union Territories in maintaining law and order and internal security. It is composed of the Cent ...
(CRPF) personnel were given the mandate of constructing this camp. During the construction, the scouting team was captured by the
PLA Pla may refer to: People * Cecilio Plá (1860–1934), Spanish painter * Conrad Pla (born 1966), Canadian kickboxer and actor * Jim Pla (born 1992), French racing driver * Joan Baptista Pla (ca. 1720–1773), Spanish composer and oboist * Josefina ...
who had advanced to Kongka Pass since the previous years. On 21 October, the search team tasked to find the missing scouts encountered the Chinese and were caught in a firefight. That led to the death of 9 members during the firefight and 1 member later due to his injuries. They have been since honored as martyrs by the
law enforcement in India Law enforcement in India is imperative to keep law and Law and order (politics), order in the nation. Law of India, Indian law is enforced by a number of Law enforcement agency, agencies. India has a multi-layered law enforcement structure wi ...
annually on this day. In the 1960s, a Police Memorial was erected here at Hot Springs.


See also

*
Hot Springs, Changlung Valley Gogra (also referred to as Nala Junction) is a pasture and campsite in the Ladakh union territory of India, near the Line of Actual Control with China. It is located in the Kugrang River valley, a branch valley of Chang Chenmo Valley, where th ...
*
Jianan Pass Jianan Pass () is a mountain pass in the eastern Karakoram Range near the Chang Chenmo Valley. The Line of Actual Control (LAC) between India and China runs through the pass dividing the Indian-administered Ladakh and Chinese-administered Aksai ...
– a border pass in the Kugrang Valley, sometimes called "Hot Springs".Snehesh Alex Philip
14th round of military talks fails to break Hot Springs logjam, breakthrough 'likely next time'
The Print, 13 January 2022.
* List of hot springs in Ladakh


Notes


References


Bibliography

* {{citation , title=Gazetteer of Kashmir and Ladak , url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.43256/page/n7 , publisher=Superintendent of Government Printing , location=Calcutta , year=1890 , ref={{sfnref, Gazetteer of Kashmir and Ladak, 1890


External links


Remembering supreme sacrifice of martyrs of CRPF on this day at Hot springs, Ladakh in 1959
- ITBP Twitter Chang Chenmo Valley