A tale of two rivers
The Pride of India series with Hyundai continues as Dhruv Saxena drives the Aura to Uttarakhand for a rendezvous with two of the country’s mightiest rivers
Rivers shape societies, countries, civilizations even and their importance for the survival of all things living cannot be overstated. Water is the source of life and hundreds of millions of people across the country rely on rivers for it. Much of the Indian economy is driven by agriculture and that too is supported by rivers providing water for irrigation. Several industries rely heavily on water that is delivered to them via rivers. Most major cities in India have sprung up along rivers. Two of the most prominent rivers in India are the Ganga and Yamuna. And those who were paying attention to geography lessons in school will know that both originate from glaciers high up in the mountains of Uttarakhand and for par four of the Pride of India series, we strapped ourselves into the Hyundai Aura and headed towards the foothills of Uttarakhand to meet the two rivers where they enter the plains.
The actual source of the Yamuna is Yamunotri glacier which lies at an elevation of 20,955ft or 6,387m on the slopes of Banderpoonch peaks. The river flows down the mountains of Uttarakhand entering the plains close to Dakpatthar in the same state dissecting Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand before continuing on along the state border between Harayana and Uttar Pradesh and eventually merging with the Ganga at Sangam in Prayagraj (formerly Allahabad) in UP. Dakpatthar is where we decided to meet the Yamuna with the Hyundai Aura. While the more straightforward route would’ve been Dehradun, we decided to go the long way around via Mussoorie because who doesn’t love driving in the mountains, right, especially when you’ve got a punchy 1.0-litre turbocharged petrol under the hood. The most prominent feature here is the Yamuna Bridge that controls the flow of water in the river.