Soan River

Soan River, also Sawan, or Sohan, is a river in Punjab, Pakistan. It originates from the Murree Hills and joins the Indus River near Makhad. Oldest evidence of human activity in Pakistan has been found in the Soan River valley. The human activity in the Soan River area is believed to have originated during the Stone Age.
Image:Swaan River.JPG|thumb|250px|right|The Soan River cutting through Pothohar
Image:Swaan gorge or Swaan cut.JPG|thumb|right|250px|One of the many gorges of the Soan River

Location and geography

The Soan River drains much of the water of the Pothohar Plateau. It originates in the foothills of Patriata in Murree and supplies water to the Simly Dam, a reservoir for Islamabad. Near Pharwala Fort, Ling Stream, following a relatively long course through Lehtrar and Kahuta, joins the Soan near Sihala on the southern side of village Gagri.
The Soan river is more than long. The Islamabad Expressway crosses this stream near Sihala at the Kak Pul bridge. The Ling Stream joins the Soan river just before the Kak Pul. Two other streams, the Korang River and the Lai stream, join the Soan just before and after the Soan Bridge, respectively. After following a path along a big curve, the stream reaches the proposed Kalabagh dam site close to Pir Piai where it falls into the Indus River.
The marine life of the river is currently endangered due to the discharge of chemicals of the Sihala Industrial State and effluent water of Rawalpindi city into it.

History

The oldest evidence of human activity in Pakistan has been found in the Soan River valley. It was here that some of the earliest signs of pre-modern humans, known as Soanians, have been discovered during the excavations of prehistoric mounds. Some relics found in the Soan Valley area during the excavation process are believed to have originated over 500,000 years ago, during the Stone Age.