The Lidder Valley or Liddar ValleyKaul, Manmohan N., ''Glacial and Fluvial Geomorphology of Western Himalaya,'' South Asia Books, 1990, p. 23, in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, is a

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

n sub-valley that forms the southeastern corner of the Kashmir Valley. The Lidder River flows down the valley. The entrance to the valley lies 7 km northeast from Anantnag town and 62 km southeast from Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir. It is a 40-km-long gorge valley with an average width of 3 km.

Geography

The Lidder Valley is situated within the jurisdiction of Pahalgam tehsil, of

Anantnag district Anantnag district is a district in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is one of ten districts which make up the Kashmir Valley. The district headquarters is Anantnag city. As of 2011, it was the third most populous district ...

. It is bordered by Kashmir Valley to the west, and Sind Valley to the north, and covers a length of 40 km. It has a maximum width of 5 km. The Lidder basin is surrounded on the south and southeast by the

Pir Panjal Range The Pir Panjal Range ( Kashmiri: ) is a group of mountains in the Lesser Himalayan region, running from east-southeast (ESE) to west-northwest (WNW) across the Indian territories of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir and then Pakistan's ...

, on the north by the Sind Valley and on the northeast by the Zaskar Range. The Lidder

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

has an area of 1134 km².Kanth, T.A., Aijaz Ahmad Shah and Zahoor ul Hassan; ''Geomorphologic Character & Receding Trend of Kolahoi Glacier in Kashmir Himalaya,'' Recent Research in Science and Technology 2011, 3(9): 68-73
, It is formed by the flow of the Lidder River which flows within a Y-shaped valley, upstream of Pahagam the river diverges into the East Lidder and the West Lidder. The East Lidder of which reaches eastwards from Pahalgam up past Chandanwari and flows from east to west starting in the area of Sheshnag Lake and the Shisram Glacier. The West Lidder originates from the

Kolhoi Glacier Kolahoi Peak (locally called 'Gashe-braer' meaning the goddess of light) is a mountain with a peak elevation of located in Anantnag district, Jammu and Kashmir, India. The mountain is the highest mountain in Kashmir Division. Kolahoi Peak is e ...

and runs through green coniferous forests through many alpine meadows. The Lidder Valley provides fresh water supply to other districts and irrigation for agriculture. The Lidder River flows through the entire valley passing several natural landmarks and tourist spots, including Aru,

Pahalgam Pahalgam (), known as Pahalgom (; in Kashmiri) is a town and a notified area committee, near Anantnag city in the Anantnag district of the Indian-administered union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is a popular tourist destination and hill ...

, Betab Valley, and Akad. The main towns in the Lidder Valley are Mandlan, Laripora, Phraslun, Ashmuqam and Seer Hamdan.

Geology

The Lidder Valley formed over millions of years as the Lidder River cut into the Himalayan Mountains. Today, the river continues to deposit sheets of sand in the lower areas of Anantnag. Gradual erosive processes have washed away bordering forests and created deep gorges at many places. AruDuotone

Ecology

The Lidder Valley has many glacier-fed streams, and the tributaries of the Lidder River are home to different types of

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', '' Salmo'' and '' Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salm ...

. The valley is the natural habitat of the

Himalayan black bear The Himalayan black bear (''Ursus thibetanus laniger'') is a subspecies of the Asian black bear found in the Himalayas of India, Bhutan, Nepal, China, and Pakistan. Description It is distinguished from '' U. t. thibetanus'' by its longer, thicke ...

. The Himalayan brown bear, musk deer,

snow leopard The snow leopard (''Panthera uncia''), also known as the ounce, is a felid in the genus '' Panthera'' native to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because the global population is es ...

and hangul have also been spotted in the Aru and Lidderwat areas, which are close to Dachigam National Park. https://acmekashmirtravels.com/Lidder-Amusement-Park.html

References

{{Kashmir Valley Valleys of Jammu and Kashmir River valleys of India Anantnag district