The Ha Chhu (also spelled Haa Chhu) is a river in west-central

Bhutan Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...

, it is a tributary of the Raidak River (Wong Chhu).

Course

The Ha Chhu originates in a valley glacier on the south-facing slope of the main

Himalayas 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 list of h ...

. The source area is located to the south of

Chomo Lhari Jomolhari or Chomolhari (; sometimes known as "the bride of Kangchenjunga”, is a mountain in the Himalayas, straddling the border between Yadong County of Tibet, China and the Paro district of Bhutan. The north face rises over above the barr ...

(''Mountain of the Goddess''). A number of smaller streams flowing from glaciers in hanging valleys join the main stream. The Ha Chhu then flows in a general south south-easterly direction to join the Wong Chhu at Chukho.

Ha valley

Western Bhutan is basically made up of the valleys of Ha at , Paro at , and

Thimphu Thimphu (; ) is the capital and largest city of Bhutan. It is situated in the western central part of Bhutan, and the surrounding valley is one of Bhutan's '' dzongkhags'', the Thimphu District. The ancient capital city of Punakha was replac ...

at . The upper valley of the Ha Chhu is Valley#Glacial valleys, glaciated but in its lower and middle course it flows along a deep Valley#River valleys, V-shaped valley. There are many rocky outcrops along this river. The Ha valley is situated on Bhutan’s border with China, from Paro, Bhutan, Paro. One can climb to Chelela Pass, Chele La (mountain pass) at a height of , the highest point on Bhutan’s roads. The mountain pass offers views of the surrounding peaks and the Paro and Ha valleys. The bulk of the Ha Chhu catchment is under alpine, sub-alpine and temperate mixed Temperate coniferous forest, coniferous forests.

Ha village

Ha, Bhutan, Ha is a large village that has come up along this river. Situated at a steep drop of the river, it has a fort. It has retained the traditional Bhutanese style of architecture.

Lhakhang Karpo

Lhakhang Karpo (''temple of the white dove''), located at Dumchoe, south of Ha village, is a monastery believed to have been built in the 8th century by the Tibetan King, Songtsen Goenpo, after he sent two doves (one black and one white) to find a sacred place to build a monastery. Lhakhang Karpo is the main seat of Ha’s guardian deity – Ap Chundu.

Fish culture

Traditionally salmonidae (Salmo trutta) and Dinnawah snowtrout (Schizothorax progastus) was found in the Ha Chhu. Brown trout (''Salmo trutta fario'') was first introduced in Bhutan in 1930. A hatchery was established at Ha immediately thereafter and another at Wangchutaba in 1975. The asla is held in high esteem by the Bhutanese and brown trout seems to be feeding on and suppressing indigenous cold-water fish such as the asla. In 1987, the FAO fact finding and project idea formulating mission for small-scale cold-water fisheries visited Bhutan. A subsequent visit by experts established that the Ha hatchery was more conducive to fish culture than that in the foothill ponds.

References

{{coord, 27, 14, N, 89, 30, E, display=title, region:BT_type:river_source:GNS-enwiki Rivers of Bhutan