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The
Doda River rises from the Drang-Drung Glacier near Pensi La, a
mountain pass off the Zanskar-Kargil road; the Doda River is
also known as Stod River.. The Drang-Drung Glacier is a river of
ice and snow by itself and is the largest glacier other than the
Siachen Glacier in Ladakh outside the Karakoram Range. It gives
rise to a mountain peak named "Doda Peak", 21,490 ft (6,550
metres) high, and it is the namesake for the Doda district,
which lies in the back side of the glacier. After rising from
its source, the Doda River flows southeast down along the Kargil
- Zanskar road in the main Zanskar valley, through the towns of
Kushol, Abran, Phey, and Akshu. The river then passes a
confluence with its tributary, the Tsarap River, at Padum, the
capital of Zanskar. Together, these two rivers form the Zanskar
River which is a tributary of the Indus River.
The Doda River contributes to the minimal agricultural
production of the Zanskar valley by providing irrigation to the
fields of wheat, peas, buckwheat and barley. Accessible in the
summer, the Pensi La mountain pass at the source of the river
receives heavy snowfall along with the other pass Zojila, which
cuts off the Stod Valley from the rest of the country during
winter, and the river freezes during this season. The river
source at Pensi La lies 350 kms east from the Srinagar, the
capital of Jammu and Kashmir. |
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