The Tons (टौंस नदी) is the largest tributary of the
Yamuna
The Yamuna (; ) is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of about on the southwestern slopes of Bandarpunch peaks of the Low ...
. It flows through
Garhwal region in
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 ...
, touching
Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...
. The Tons thrust is named after this river.
With its source in the high
Bandarpunch mountain, it is one of the most major perennial Indian
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 rivers. In fact, it carries more water than the Yamuna itself, which it meets below Kalsi near
Dehradun
Dehradun (), also known as Dehra Doon, is the winter capital and the List of cities in Uttarakhand by population, most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous Dehradun district, d ...
, Uttarakhand.
Tons Valley
Tons Valley lies in
Jaunsar Bawar region, as it emerges from the Himalayas has haridwar on its eastern bank. The cantonment town of
Chakrata is situated between, the Tons and
Yamuna
The Yamuna (; ) is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of about on the southwestern slopes of Bandarpunch peaks of the Low ...
rivers.
Tributaries
The Pabbar River is a tributary of the Tons River connecting to it from the west. It is also the westernmost river that drains east to 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 ...
. The
Sutlej River
The Sutlej River or the Satluj River is a major river in Asia, flowing through China, India and Pakistan, and is the longest of the five major rivers of the Punjab region. It is also known as ''Satadru''; and is the easternmost tributary of th ...
is the next watershed over and is the easternmost river that drains west into the
Indus
The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans- Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in the Western Tibet region of China, flows northwest through the dis ...
.
The Asan River is another tributary of the Tons that is often named (incorrectly) after this great river as the Tons. The Asan is a confluence of two small river systems, one comprising streams flowing south from the
Himalayan range running from Vikas Nagar towards
Tehri (with
Mussorie in the centre), and the other comprising streams flowing north-west from the lower
Shiwalik hills (that separate
Dehradun
Dehradun (), also known as Dehra Doon, is the winter capital and the List of cities in Uttarakhand by population, most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous Dehradun district, d ...
and
Saharanpur districts). The misnomer Tons stands for the river originating from the Mussorie hills, flowing down through Robber's cave, Bijapur canal and
Tapkeshwar Mahadev, before emerging into a broad valley behind IMA. This river receives substantial waters from several streams flowing south from the
Himalayan slopes. It goes on west beyond the locality of Premnagar to finally join the streams from the lower
Shiwaliks and flow toward the
Yamuna
The Yamuna (; ) is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of about on the southwestern slopes of Bandarpunch peaks of the Low ...
, which it joins near Poanta Sahib.
Asan barrage
The Asan Barrage is a barrage (dam), barrage in the Uttarakhand-Himachal Pradesh border region in Doon Valley (Dehradun district), northern India, situated at the confluence of the Eastern Yamuna Canal and the Asan River and about from Dakpathar ...
is constructed just before this confluence.
Identification with ancient Saraswati river
Research points to the possibility of the ancient Saraswati river having had a source in the glacial waters of the Himalayas. The theory states that the Tons river became a tributary of the Yamuna a few thousand years ago following a tectonic event in the Shiwalik range near Sirmaur district of Himachal Pradesh. If this is true, the Tons once ran an independent course somewhat parallel to the Yamuna, running south-west into Haryana where the Yamuna merged into it, and lower down the course into Punjab, where the Sutlej merged into it. This river was then the Saraswati mentioned in the Vedic texts as the greatest of all Indian rivers. However, this is just a theory and is yet to be universally accepted.
Geology
The top of the Tons river is in the Himalayan Crystalline complex. It then flows through Tethan Himalaya rocks before connecting to the Pabbar River in the Lesser Himalayan Sequence. The Tons flows into the Yamuna River after crossing into the Sub-Himalaya Sequence.
In Art and Literature
An engraving of a painting by William Purser depicting a rope bridge crossing the river in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1839 gave rise to the poetical illustration "Crossing the River Tonse by a Jhoola" by
Letitia Elizabeth Landon. The poet echoes the three stranded rope in her three-lined verses.
Adventure sports
Along with
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 ...
, it has now become a major destination for water-based adventure sports like white-water rafting in Uttarakhand.
Visitors can stay at Jaunsar Bawar region on the banks of the Tons river and enjoy the grade 4 rafting. The typical season for rafting in Tons is until July.
See also
*
Ghaggar-Hakra River
The Ghaggar-Hakra River () is an intermittent river in India and Pakistan that flows only during the monsoon season. The river is known as Ghaggar before the Ottu barrage at , and as Hakra downstream of the barrage in the Thar Desert. In pre-Ha ...
*
Markanda river, Haryana
*
Sarsuti
*
Tangri river
*
Chautang
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Rivers of Uttarakhand
Tributaries of the Yamuna River
Rivers of Himachal Pradesh
Valleys of Himachal Pradesh