Soan River
| Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R) |
Soan River (Hindi:सोन, Urdu: سواں) is a river in Punjab, Pakistan.
Variants of name
- Soan
- Soan river
- Swan River/Swaan River
- Sawan River
- Sohan River
- Sushoma River सुषोमा (AS, p.981)
- Sushoma (सुशोमा)/Sushoma River/Susoma (सुसोमा) (Rig Veda) (VIII.7.29; 64.11, X.75.5.)
Location
The Soan River is an important stream of the Pothohar region of Pakistan. It drains much of the water of Pothohar. It starts near the small village of Bun in the foothills of Patriata and Murree.
Jat clans
History
The river might be the Sushoma River of the Rig Veda. According to an important Hindu scripture, the Srimad Bhagavatam, the Sushoma is one of the many transcendental rivers flowing to the north of the land of Bharata.[1]
Geography
Soan River provides water to Simly Dam, which is the water reservoir for Islamabad. Near Pharwala Fort it cuts through a high mountain range, a wonderful natural phenomenon called Soan Cut. No stream can cut such a high mountain, which proves that the Soan was there before the formation of this range. And as the mountain rose through millions of years, the stream continued its path by cutting the rising mountain. Ling stream, following a relatively long course through Lehtrar and Kahuta falls in the Soan near Sihala on southern side of Village Gagri/Bhandar.
Islamabad Highway crosses this stream near Sihala where the famous Kak Pul bridge is constructed over it. The Ling Stream joins the Soan river just before the Kak Pul. Two other famous streams, the Korang River joins it just before the Soan Bridge and Lai stream, joins this stream after the Soan Bridge. After following a tortuous path along a big curve, the stream reaches Kalabagh proposed Dam Site close to Pirpiyahi where it falls into the Indus river. There is a famous railway station by the name of Sohan and a beautiful railway bridge very close to it. This relatively small stream is more than 250 kilometers long. Due to its mountainous course and shallow bed, it is hardly used for irrigation purposes. There are many species of fish in this river like China Rahu, Mahasher, Snakehead, Balm and Catfish are the main species of fish in this stream and Kingfisher birds hunt here too. In addition, there are many species of tortoises and turtles. The marine life of this river has been endangered due to drainage of chemicals of Sihala Industrial State and effluent water of Rawalpindi city into it. There was a time when peoples used to fish in this stream with nets and hooks and bring home handsome catch but now, not only the above species of fish have diminished but also peoples avoid to eat Soan River's fish as it feeds on contaminated water, which can cause different diseases. Ministry of Environment must take action and treat the effluent water of Rawalpindi city before releasing it into Soan River and also punish and fine those industrialists who are releasing chemicals and other industrial waste into the river and destroying the beautiful marine life of Soan River.
सुषोमा नदी
सुषोमा नदी (AS, p.981): श्रीमद्भागवत 5,18,18 में उल्लिखित नदी--'सुषोमा शतद्रूश्चन्द्रभागा मरुद्वृधा वितस्ता '. प्रसंग अनुसार यह इरावती (रावी) व्यास (बिपाशा) हो सकती है.[2]
External links
References
Back to Rivers/Rivers in Pakistan/Rivers in Rigveda/Rivers in Pakistan