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<< Indian Himalayas << About Himalayas >> << Rivers of Himalayas >> << Sutlej River >>

Sutlej River

River Sutlej takes birth on the southern slopes of the holiest of mountains - Kailash, near the holiest of lakes Mansarovar. After a long run, parallel to the Himalayas, it finally penetrates these at Shipki pass. Later it cuts through the Zanskar range, makes a diagonal thrust through the Himalayas and blasts a deep gorge at the base of the Kinner Kailash massif. Within Kinnaur district, the Sutlej runs parallel to the Hindustan-Tibet Road. At Karcham, in Kinnaur, it is joined by the crystal clear, blue river Baspa that drains the Sangla valley.

It is from Karcham for about 25-km that the Sutlej is in its most ferocious and challenging moods-boulders, rocks and rubble are tossed around in mighty foaming rapids, the loose strata of the ranges on the flanks further adding to the debris. It is in this form, 4-km down river from Wangtu, that it meets the “Pick-Up Dam” for the tunnel of the famous Nathpa Jhakri Hydel Project.  The fast flow with just the right amount of water makes the Sutlej and its tributaries the “Power House of the Himalayas”. The Hindustan-Tibet Road running along the banks of the river gives accessibility. The hydel potential of the river is being harnessed by construction of storage dams in its lower sections and through Run of the River projects in its faster sections.

Energy Source of the Himalayan Region

The fast flow with just the right amount of water makes the Sutlej and its tributaries the “Power House of the Himalayas”. The Hindustan-Tibet Road running along the banks of the river gives accessibility. The hydel potential of the river is being harnessed by construction of storage dams in its lower sections and through Run of the River projects in its faster sections.

The ‘Run of the river” schemes involve erection of a weir / dams with desalting tanks for storing sufficient water to ensure continuous supply through a tunnel / open channel to a point above the power house site and then given a drop to operate the turbines. The bigger the drop, more the force and with it power. At places like the ‘Baspa stage I” water is again canalized through a tunnel to operate another power station thus avoiding the cost of constructing another weir / dam and desalting chambers.