Shyok River

Five soldiers died after a tank was swept away by strong water currents in the Shyok River during military training in Ladakh recently.

About Shyok River:

•   It is a river that flows through northern Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir, India and enters the Pakistan-administered region of Gilgit-Baltistan, where it joins the Indus River.
•   It is a tributary of the Indus River.

 Course:

o  It originates from the Rimo Glacier; one of the tongues of the Siachen Glacier, and gets its name from a Ladakhi word meaning 'the river of death'.

o  The alignment of the Shyok river is very strange, originating from the Rimo glacier, it flows in a South-East direction and at joining the Pangong range, it takes a north-west turn and flows parallel to its prior path.

o  The Shyok, flowing in a broad valley, rapidly enters a narrow gorge after Chalunka and then joins the Indus at Skardu (Pakistan).

•    The total length of the river is around 550 km (340 mi).
•    It is fed by meltwater from numerous glaciers on its journey.
•   It meanders through the high-altitude deserts and mountain ranges of Ladakh before converging with the Indus.
•   Its main right-bank tributary is the Nubra River.