The Dhauliganga is a turbulent

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 Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than 100 pea ...

n river which rises in the border regions of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and flows south into the Garhwal region of

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand (, ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. The state is bordered by Himachal Pradesh to the n ...

, India. It joins the

Alaknanda The Alaknanda is a Himalayan river in the Indian state of Uttarakhand and one of the two headstreams of the Ganges, the major river of Northern India and a river considered holy in Hinduism. In hydrology, the Alaknanda is considered the headstr ...

, the major source stream of the

Ganges The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...

river.

Course

Dhauliganga rises in the vicinity of the

Niti Pass Niti Valley is a remote valley located in the northernmost region of Uttarakhand, India at a height of 3, 600 m (11, 811 ft). It is close to the Chinese border and Niti is the last village in the valley before the border with south Tibet. The Niti ...

in the border regions between Garhwal and southwestern Tibet. It flows southwards until it meets the

Rishiganga Rishiganga is a river in the Chamoli district, Uttarakhand, India. It springs from the Uttari Nanda Devi Glacier on the Nanda Devi mountain. It is also fed from the Dakshini Nanda Devi Glacier. Continuing through the Nanda Devi National Park ...

on its left bank at Rini, in the vicinity of Tapovan in

Chamoli district Chamoli district is a district of the Uttarakhand state of India. It is bounded by China's Xizang Autonomous Region to the north, and by the Uttarakhand districts of Pithoragarh district, Pithoragarh and Bageshwar district, Bageshwar to the eas ...

. It then flows westwards until it meets the

Vishnuprayag Vishnuprayāg is the confluence of India's Alaknanda and Dhauliganga rivers—the first of five major confluences of the Alakanda known as the Panch Prayag. It is located at an elevation of in the Chamoli district in the state of Uttarakhan ...

and terminates—the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...

just upstream of the city of

Joshimath Joshimath, also known as Jyotirmath, is a town and a municipal board in Chamoli District in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. Located at a height of 6,150 feet (1,875 m), it is a gateway to several Himalayan mountain climbing expeditions, tre ...

. The upper Dhauliganga valley parts the East-West Himalayan axis, with Nanda Devi and its subsidiary peaks to its left and Kamet and its subsidiary peaks to its right.

Nanda Devi glacier flood

On 7 February 2021, part of Nanda Devi Glacier, a Himalayan glacier in the

Nanda Devi National Park The Nanda Devi National Park or Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, established in 1982 is a national park situated around the peak of Nanda Devi (7816 m) in Chamoli Garhwal district of Uttarakhand, in northern India. The entire park lies at an elev ...

, broke away and caused water levels in the Rishiganga and Dhauliganga rivers to rise. The Dhauliganga Dam at the Dhauliganga hydropower project at Reni village () was destroyed and another suffered partial collapse. Initial reports said nine people were killed and 140 missing. Water levels on the Alaknanda also rose.

References

External links

Dhauliganga mapped on OpenStreetMap
Rivers of Uttarakhand {{India-river-stub