Indus River The Trans Himalayan Indus River rises near the Mansarovar Lakeon the Tibetan plateau. It enters the Himalaya in southeasternLadakh near its confluence with the River Gurtang at anelevation of 4,200 m.

By the Indus river at Saspol, Ladakh Credit: Luke Powell

Thereafter it follows a north by northwest course between thetowering Ladakh range in the north and the Zanskar range in thesouth. The river has a steep gradient and the valley is verynarrow in this region.

This river makes a sharp turn south of Pangong Lake and cutsthrough the Ladakh range. Further downstream it turns towardsthe south and rounds the western flank of the Nanga Parbatmassif to take a westerly course and leave the Himalaya nearSazin.

The main tributaries of this river in the Ladakh region of Jammu andKashmir (India) are:

	the Hanle river
	the Gurtang river
	the Shigar river
	the Shigar (South) river
	the Shyok river
	the Gilgit river
	the Astor river

Indus and the Zanskar meet near Saspul. Credit: Karamjeet Singh

A number of human settlements lie along the Indus River inLadakh. These include Leh, Marol, Skardu and Bunji.

Flash floods are known to have occurred in the Indus basin fromtime to time. The most devastating flood occurred in the latterpart of the last century when a dam formed by an avalancheburst in the Indus catchment of Ladakh. Huge loss of life andproperty occurred in the area.

Other rivers in Ladakh which form tributaries of the Indus and itsfeeder streams include the Nubra river and the Dras river.