Sawaan Sawaan RiverRiver

IntroductionIntroduction

• The Soan River is an important stream of the Pothohar region of Pakistan.

• It drains much of the water of Pothohar.

• It starts near a small village Bun in the foothills of Patriata and Murree.

• It provides water to Simly Dam, which is the water reservoir for Islamabad.

• Near Pharwala Fort it cuts through a high mountain range, a wonderful natural phenomenon called Soan Cut. No stream can cut such a high mountain, which proves that the Soan was there before the formation of this range.

• Ling stream, following a relatively long course through Lehtrar and Kahuta falls in the Soan near Sihala.

• Islamabad Highway crosses this stream near Sihala where the famous Cock Pull bridge is constructed over it. Another famous stream, the Lai stream, joins this stream near Soan Camp.

• After following a tortuous path along a big curve, the stream reaches Kalabagh where it falls into the Indus River. This relatively small stream is more than 250 kilometers long.

• Due to its mountainous course and shallow bed, it is hardly used for irrigation purposes. Rohu is the main species of fish in this stream and Kingfisher birds hunt here too.

HistoryHistory

• The oldest evidence of human life (100,000 to 150,000 years ago) in Pakistan, Soan Culture, was found in the Soan River valley.

• The river has also been identified with the Sushoma River of the Rig Veda.

• According to the major Vedic religious work Srimad Bhagavatam, the Sushoma is one of the many transcendental rivers flowing through the land of Bharata.