BANGLADESH ISLAMI

UNIVERSITY

ASSIGNMENT

TOPIC: Draw the of Bangladesh marking its

neighboring regions and its distribution of land

and rivers.

River Length (km)

Length (miles)

Drainage area (km²)

Outflow Countries in the drainage basin

Bangladesh district in the drainage basin

Ganga River 2,525 1,569 1,080,000 Bay of Bengal India, Bangladesh

Rajshahi

Padma River 120 75 NA Bay of Bengal Bangladesh Kushtia, Pabna, Rajshahi

Meghna River 264 164 82,000 Bay of Bengal Bangladesh Chandpur

Brahmaputra River

2,900 1,800 651,334 Bay of Bengal India, Bangladesh,

China

Dhaka

Jamuna Rive 250 155 47,000 Joins Padma River

Bangladesh Mymensingh, Pabna, Tangail

Teesta River 309 192 12,540 Brahmaputra River

India, Bangladesh

Rangpur

Karnaphuli River

270 170 2,500 Bay of Bengal Bangladesh Chittagong

Surma River 900 540 NA Meghna River India, Bangladesh

Kishoreganj

Mahananda River

360 224 20,600 Ganges River India, Bangladesh

ChapaiNawabganj

Atrai River 390 240 NA ChalanBeel Bangladesh Dinajpur

Ganges River বাাংলা

Ganges River one of the largest river systems of the world and an important RIVER flowing through

India and Bangladesh. The term 'Ganges' is a corrupt form, used by a Greek historian, of the

Sanskrit name 'Ganga' by which the river is popularly known throughout the sub-continent. Its

drainage basin covers one of the most thickly populated regions of the world, a region where the

Indo-Aryan civilisation has flourished for many centuries. It comprises the Ganges and many

important affluents, such as the Jamuna, Kali, Karnali, Ramganga, Gandak and the Kosi, all of which

rise in the himalayas and are mainly snow-fed. The Ganges proper is formed of two tributaries - the

Bhagirathi and the Alakananda.

The Ganges rises near the Tibet-Indian border. The Bhagirathi is accepted traditionally as the

original Ganges, although the Alakananda is the larger river. The actual source of the former is

Gangotri glacier at an altitude of about 3,900m in the Himalayas. The Gangotri shrine is a few

kilometres downstream from Gaumukh. The Bhagirathi joins its western tributary the Jahnavi, a little

away to the north of the main Himalayan range and about 11 km below the Gangotri temple. The

combined river then cuts through the main Himalayan range through a magnificent gorge in which

the riverbed is 3,960m below the peaks on either side.

The river flows in a southeasterly direction across India and crosses the western border of

Bangladesh in NAWABGANJ district. Inside the country, flowing almost in the same direction it meets

the JAMUNA (the BRAHMAPUTRA) at goalondaghat and then further down meets the Meghna at

chandpur. From the confluence with the Jamuna to the confluence with the Meghna the river is

named PADMA. The entire course of the Ganges inside Bangladesh is popularly called the Padma,

though actually it is not. The Ganges has a total length of about 2,600 km up to its confluence with

the Jamuna and a catchment area of about 10,87,400 sq km of which about 46,300 sq km lies within

Bangladesh.

In Bangladesh it has only one tributary, the MAHANANDA, while it has a good number of distributaries

such as the ICHAMATI, NABAGANGA, BHAIRAB, KUMAR, goari MADHUMATI, and ARIAL KHAN.

The Ganges is the major hydrodynamic system that formed the world's largest DELTA that occupies a

major portion of Bangladesh and a greater part of WEST BENGAL in India. In the long history of

development of the Ganges Delta, the river shifted southeast and has reached its present position in

the Bengal low land. The hydrology and drainage systems of the Ganges Delta in the southwestern

part of Bangladesh are intimately related to the mighty Ganges and the fluvio-hydrological setting of

the Bengal Basin. The Ganges and its numerous tributaries and distributaries have long been

playing an important role in the development of the delta. The deltaic estuaries of the Ganges-

Padma-Meghna system drain the combined discharges of these rivers amounting to an average of

35,000 cumec. However, during the MONSOON the discharge of Ganges rises to 76,000 cumec with a

corresponding increase in its SEDIMENT load. The low-level discharge of the river is of the order of

15,000 cumec, and naturally very little sediment is borne by the river during this period. In the deltaic

portion the river-width ranges from 1.6 to 8 km and sometimes it shows a braided character though it

is a meandering CHANNEL.

The delta of the Ganges begins near Gaur, a famous historic city. The present main branch of the

river flows in a southeasterly direction and is called the Padma in Bangladesh. A few centuries ago

the main channel of the Ganges in the Bengal plain was the Hugly together with its feeders the

Bhagirathi, Jalangi and Mathabhanga, called the Nadia rivers in West Bengal. [Kazi Matinuddin

Ahmed]

Padma River

বাাংলা

Padma River the downstream of the GANGES, more precisely, the combined flow of the Ganges and

the JAMUNA after their confluence at GOALANDAGHAT. In Bangladesh the Ganges is popularly known

as the Padma from its point of entrance at Manakosa and Durlabhpur unions

of SHIBGANJ upazila, NAWABGANJ district. This name (Padma or Podda) is sometimes applied to the

Ganges as far up as the point at which the Bhagirathi leaves its rightbank, and according to the

Hindus, it takes the sanctity of the Ganges with it. It is hydrographically more correct to use the

name Ganges to refer to the river up to its confluence with the Jamuna (BRAHMAPUTRA), and the

downstream after the confluence as the Padma. The Padma is also sometimes wrongly referred to

as the Ganges. The river between Aricha and Sureshwar (Chandpur) is therefore best called

Padma.

The Padma is 120 kilometres long and from 4 to 8 km wide. The very important Goalandaghat-

Chandpur steamer route is mostly on this river. Near Tepakhola, 14 km from Goalandaghat, the

small Faridpur Khal distributary takes off from the rightbank. Fifty kilometres further down the ARIAL

KHANtakes off from the rightbank. Fourteen kilometres further downstream the Lohajang river falls

into it at LOHAJANG upazila on the leftbank, and the Kristanagar river branches off from the opposite

side. A few kilometres from Lohajang, the Shosha Khal and the Naria Khal take off from the

rightbank, join up and as one stream falls into the Arial Khan south of MADARIPUR. The Padma joins

the Meghna 5 km from Sureshwar in a maze of shifting shoals and CHARS. The Lower Meghna is

actually a continuation of the joint flow of the Padma and the Meghna.

The Ganges-Padma is the major hydrodynamic system that formed one of the world's largest delta

complex covering a major portion of the country and also a greater part of West Bengal in India. For

a long period of development of the Ganges Delta, the river shifted southeast and has reached its

present position in the Bengal Basin. The hydrology and drainage systems of the Ganges Delta in

the southwestern part of Bangladesh are intimately related to the mighty Ganges and the fluvio-

hydrological setting of the Bengal Basin. The deltaic estuaries of the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna

system drain the combined discharges of these river systems, amounting on an average of 35,000

cumec. However, during the MONSOONthe discharge of the Padma rises to the order of 750,000

cumec with a corresponding increase in its SEDIMENT load. The low-level discharge of the river

during the dry season is of the order of 15,000 cumec, and naturally very little sediment is borne by

the river during this period. In the deltaic portion the river width ranges from 1.6 to 8.0 km and

sometimes it shows a braided character although it is a meandering river.

Meghna River বাাংলা

Meghna River one of the major rivers in Bangladesh, specially famous for its great estuary that

discharges the flows of the Ganges-Padma, the Brahmaputra-Jamuna and the Meghna itself. The

downstream of SURMA river from Ajmiriganj is often referred to as the Meghna. The matter would be

simpler but for the fact that from Madna downstream for about 26 km (in a straight line) one of the

two CHANNELS of the Surma-Meghna is known as the DHALESHWARI. The channel from Ajmiriganj

down to the confluence with the Dhanu is referred to as the Surma. This confluence is five

kilometres east of Kuliarchar and north of Bhairab Bazar. Downstream from this point, the river is

referred to as the Meghna.

The Meghna has two distinct parts. The Upper Meghna from Kuliarchar to Shatnol is a comparatively

small river. The Lower Meghna below Shatnol is one of the largest rivers in the world because of its

wide estuary mouth. The Lower Meghna is at times treated as a separate river.

The Meghna receives the OLD BRAHMAPUTRA on its right at Bhairab Bazar. A little above the

confluence, the Meghna has a railway bridge-'Bhairab Bridge'-and a road bridge-'Bangladesh-UK-

Friendship Bridge' over it. The width of the river there is three-quarters of a kilometre. Several small

channels branching off from the Meghna and meandering through the lowland bordering the Tippera

Surface receive the flow of a number of hilly streams and rejoin the main river downstream. The

most important of these offshoots is the TITAS, which takes off south of Ghatalpar and after

meandering through two long-bends extending over 240 km rejoins the Meghna through two

channels in Nabinagar upazila. Other offshoots of the Meghna are the Pagli, Kathalia, Dhonagoda,

Matlab and Udhamdi. The Meghna and these offshoots receive water of a number of hilly streams

from the Tripura Hills. The important hill streams are the GUMTI, Kakrai, Kagni, DAKATIA, Hawrah,

Sonaiburi, Harimangal, Pagli, Kurulia, Balujuri, Sonaichhari, Handachora, Jangalia and. All of these

are liable to flash floods. The Gumti, Kakrai and Hawrah are the most destructive rivers. They have

silted their beds to the extent that they now flow above the mean level of the land when brimful.

Numbers of EMBANKMENTS have been built to contain them. But every other year one or the other of

these streams overflows and causes considerable damage to crops, livestock and homestead.

The Meghna receives Tippera Surface streams from the east and flows from the enlarged

Dhaleshwari from the west. At the confluence, just north of Shatnol, the Meghna is about five

kilometres wide. Dhaleshwari comes down in a brown stream and meets the clear blue-green

Meghna. For many kilometres the waters do not seem to mix, for half the river water remains brown

and the other half blue-green. The boatmen are fond of pointing out this peculiarity.

Sixteen kilometres from Shatnol, the combined flow of the Ganges and Brahmaputra-Jamuna,

known as the PADMA, meets the Meghna at a 11 km wide confluence in the rainy season near

Chandpur. From this point southwards the Meghna is marked as the Lower Meghna, becoming one

of the broadest rivers and largest estuaries in the world.

Lower Meghna is the combined stream of the Padma and the Meghna (Upper Meghna), reinforced

by the Dhaleshwari. All the three rivers are large. The Dhaleshwari-Meghna and the Padma are

each 5 km wide at the confluence. The Lower Meghna has several small CHARS (braid-bars) in it,

which create two main channels, of which the large eastern one is 5 to 8 km wide. The western

channel is about 2 km in width. Near Muladi the 1.5 km wide Safipur river is an offshoot from the

right-bank. Further south, the Lower Meghna shifts into three channels: west to east

flowing TENTULIA(Ilsha) river, the Shahbazpur and the Bamni. The Ilsha is a 5 to 6.5 km wide channel

separating Bhola Island from the Barisal mainland.

West of the mouth of the Ilsha is the Rabnabad islands. Shahbazpur Channel, 5 to 8 km wide,

separates Bhola from Ramgati and Hatiya islands and at its mouth are the Manpura islands. Bamni

now is said to be nonexistent. previously it used to flow between the islands of Ramgati and Char

Lakshmi and the Noakhali mainland, and was at times the main outlet for Meghna. The tides and

their bores always affected it considerably, and this channel narrowed or widened in an

unpredictable manner. After eroding a considerable part of the mainland in the 1940s, it suddenly

shoaled to such an extent, just west of Noakhali town, that in winter there was a land bridge from the

mainland to Ramgati Island. To make this a permanent feature, a large earthen cross DAM was built.

To accelerate the accretion of chars, a second cross dam was built linking Noakhali mainland and

Char Jabbar which rapidly built up nearly 260 sq km of land.

The estuary of the Lower Meghna is usually taken to stretch from the Rabnabad islands to the

Kumira coast, a distance of 153 km. The water is, however, saline for half of the year as far north, as

a line could be drawn from the middle of Bhola to the north of Sandwip. The estuary of the Lower

Meghna may be considered as extending between the Ilsha (Tentulia) and Shahbazpur rivers which

together have a width of about 40 km at the sea-face. The volume of the estuarine discharge is not

known, but at Chandpur the mean discharge from June to October is around 2.5 million cusec. The

mean maximum in this period of the year is about four million cusec. The winter flow is about one-

eighth of it although the river is even then several kilometres wide. The low flow is due to the

stream's sluggishness. In maximum FLOOD, the Lower Meghna's flow is no less than five million

cusec. It is also estimated that from May to October its daily load of SEDIMENTS is nearly four million

tons. The annual load of sediments carried by it is about 1,500 million tons and annual water

discharge about 875 million acre-feet (MAF). In comparison, the Congo, La Plata and Yangtse rivers

have a total annual flow of 1,022, 636 and 559 MAF respectively. The Lower Meghna, as the major

outlet of the combined Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna has therefore somewhat less outflow than

the Congo, which is second only to the Amazon.

The Lower Meghna (160 km) is measured from the south of Chandpur to as far as the Tentulia. The

flow is estimated for a point mid-way between Chandpur and Mehendiganj. The total length of the

Surma-Meghna is about 670 km. The length of the Upper Meghna is measured up to Chandpur, but

the discharge is measured at Bhairab Bazar.

A larger number of settlements, towns, ports and industries have sprung up on both the banks of the

Meghna. Narsingdi, Chandpur, Barisal and Bhola are the district towns that stand on the banks of

the Meghna. Kuliarchar, Bhairab Bazar, Chandpur (Puran Bazar), Ramdaspur, Kalupur and

Daulatkhan are important riverports and business centres. The Ashuganj thermal power plant and

the Fenchuganj fertiliser factory are located on the banks of this river.

The Meghna is a flood-prone river. The BANGLADESH WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD (BWDB) has

implemented the Meghna Valley Project and constructed embankments along the riverbanks. These

embankments are protecting greater Sylhet, Mymensingh and Comilla districts from floods. By

constructing dams at different places a total of 180,000 ha of land has been brought under irrigation.

About 125 km of dams have been constructed in the southern region of Bangladesh under the

coastal enbankment project. These are helping to control floods and keep salinity off. These dams

are also playing an important role in LAND RECLAMATION.

Brahmaputra River বাাংলা

Brahmaputra River one of the largest RIVERS in the world, with its basin covering areas in Tibet,

China, India and Bangladesh. It originates in the Chemayung-Dung glacier, approximately at 31'30'N

and 82'0'E, some 145 km from Parkha, an important trade centre between lake Manassarowar and

Mount Kailas. It has a long course through the dry and flat region of southern Tibet before it breaks

through the HIMALAYAS near the Namcha Barwa peak at about 7,755m. Its chief tributaries in India

are the Amochu, Raidak, Sankosh, Mans, Bhareli, Dibang and Luhit. The several tributaries in Tibet

are derived partly from a low range between the main Himalayas and the Tsang-po. The total length

of the river from its source in southwestern Tibet to the mouth in the BAY OF BENGAL is about 2,850

km (including Padma and Meghna up to the mouth). Within Bangladesh territory, Brahmaputra-

Jamuna is 276 km long, of which Brahmaputra is only 69 km.

The Brahmaputra is known as the Dihang in Assam Himalayas before it comes into the Great Plains

of Bengal. The Dibang and the Luhit meet it from the east near Sadiya. The Dibang drains the

Himalayas east of the Dihang while the Luhit drains an area between ASSAM and Myanmar.

The course of the Brahmaputra in Tibet, known as the Tsang-po, is through a plain south of Lhasa;

the flow here is sluggish. From the source to where the river enters the central Himalayan range

near Namcha Barwa it is 1,600 km long. There it has three tributaries. The elevation of its bed is

about 4,523m at Tradom, 2,440m at Gaela Sindong near Namcha Barwa, but only 135m at Sadiya

in northeast Assam. In Assam, it flows roughly southwest to a point north of the SHILLONG

MASSIF before entering Bangladesh.

In the plains of Assam the Brahmaputra is a mighty river and spreads into a vast expanse of water. It

has numerous islands and changes its course very often. After traversing the Assam valley for 720

km, it sweeps round the Garo Hills, enters Bangladesh and flows southward for nearly 240 km

before joining the GANGES and the SEA in the south. In Bangladesh the reach of this river is very

small-up to the off-take of the OLD BRAHMAPUTRA-and its downstream portion after the off-take is

known as the JAMUNA.

Originally, the Brahmaputra flowed southeast across MYMENSINGH district where it received

the SURMA river and united with the MEGHNA, as shown in RENNELL’S ATLAS (1785). By the beginning

of the 19th century its bed had risen due to tectonic movement of the MADHUPUR TRACT and it found

an outlet farther west along its present course. The entire lower Brahmaputra consists of a vast

network of CHANNELS, which are dry in the cold season but are inundated during the MONSOON. It has

numerous islands that are locally known as CHARS. This is the widest river system in the country

flowing north-south. It meets the Ganges at goalandaghat .

The catchment of this mighty river is about 5,83,000 sq km of which about 47,000 sq km lies in

Bangladesh. The river is braided within Bangladesh. It has four major tributaries:

the DUDHKUMAR, DHARLA, TISTA and the Karatoya-Atrai system. The first three rivers are flashy in

nature, rising from the steep catchment on the southern side of the Himalayas

between DARJEELING in India, and Bhutan. Of all the distributaries, the Old Brahmaputra is the

longest and was actually the course of the present Brahmaputra some 200 years ago. The switch to

the present course took place after the EARTHQUAKE and catastrophic FLOOD in 1787.

During the monsoon the Brahmaputra discharges a large volume of water and at the same time

brings in huge amounts of SEDIMENTS. The width of the river varies from 3 km to 18 km but the

average width is about 10 km. The width/depth ratios for individual channels of the Brahmaputra

vary from 50:1 to 500:1. The gradient of the river in Bangladesh is 0.000077, decreasing to 0.00005

near the confluence with the Ganges. The river has a total suspended load discharge of about 725

million tons per annum.

The river is in fact a multi-channel one. Channels of many different sizes, from hundreds of meters to

kilometres wide, and of different patterns including braiding, meandering and anastomosing pattern

in the country. The main factor controlling the channel pattern in the Brahmaputra is its discharge.

Jamuna River বাাংলা

Jamuna River The Brahmaputra-Jamuna is the second largest river in Bangladesh and one of the

largest rivers in the world, flowing through Tibet, China, India and Bangladesh. Actually Jamuna is

the downstream course of the BRAHMAPUTRA which took place after the EARTHQUAKE and

catastrophic FLOOD between 1782-1787. Presently the Brahmaputra continues southeast from

Bahadurabad (Dewanganj upazila of Jamalpur district) as the OLD BRAHMAPUTRA and the river

between Bahadurabad and Aricha is the Jamuna, not Brahmaputra. The Hydrology Directorate of

the BANGLADESH WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD (BWDB) refers to the whole stretch as the

Brahmaputra-Jamuna.

It originates in the Chemayung-Dung glacier, approximately at 31'30'N and 82'0'E, some 145 km

from Parkha, an important trade centre between lake Manassarowar and Mount Kailas. The

Brahmaputra is known as the Dihang in Assam Himalayas before it comes into the Great Plains of

Bengal. It enters Bangladesh through Kurigram district (at the border of Kurigram Sadar and Ulipur

upazilas). The total length of the Tsangpo-Brahmaputra-Jamuna river up to its confluence with the

Ganges is about 2,700 km. Within Bangladesh territory, Brahmaputra-Jamuna is 276 km long, of

which Jamuna is 205 km.

The width of the river varies from 3 km to 20 km but the average width is about 10 km. In the rainy

season the river is nowhere less than five kilometres broad. The river is in fact a multi-channel

braided pattern. Channels of many different sizes, from hundreds of meters to kilometres wide, and

of different patterns including braiding, meandering and anastomosing pattern in the country. It is,

through most of its course within Bangladesh, studded with bars (CHARS) many of which are

submerged during the rainy season and makes a single water channel. Thus, by breadth alone, this

river qualifies as one of the largest in the world. The width/depth ratios for individual channels of the

Brahmaputra vary from 50:1 to 500:1. The gradient of the river in Bangladesh is 0.000077,

decreasing to 0.00005 near the confluence with the Ganges.

The catchment of the mighty Brahmaputra-Jamuna river is about 5,83,000 sq km of which 293,000

sq km are in Tibet, 241,000 sq km in India and only 47,000 sq km within Bangladesh. The drainage

area above Bahadurabad is 536,000 sq km. This is the widest river system in the country flowing

north-south. There are gauges and discharges records for this river at Bahadurabad, where amount

represents the flow entering Bangladesh plus those of the DUDHKUMAR, the DHARLA and the TISTA,

and minus those of the Old Brahmaputra and BANGALI. The discharge during the rainy season is

enormous, averaging 40,000 cumec, by which measure it ranks with the Amazon, Congo, La Plata,

Yangtse, Mississippi and MEGHNA as one of the seven largest rivers. The highest recorded flood was

98,600 cumec in August 1988.

Average annual flow at Bahadurabad is estimated to be 501 million acre-feet. August has always

been the month when widespread flooding has been most likely. Floods from May to July are usually

due to the Brahmaputra-Jamuna and Meghna. From August to October due to the combined flows of

those river and the Ganges. As a rule, the flow of the Brahmaputra-Jamuna is more erratic than that

of the Ganges. The gradient of the Jamuna averages 1:11,850 which is slightly more than that of the

Ganges. The Jamuna discharges a large volume of water and at the same time brings in huge

amounts of SEDIMENTS. During the rainy season it brings down something like 1.2 million tons of

sediment daily, and the annual silt runoff at Bahadurabad is estimated at 735 million tons.

It has four major tributaries: the Dudhkumar, the Dharla, the Tista and the Karatoya-Atrai system.

The first three rivers are flashy in nature, rising from the steep catchment on the southern side of the

Himalayas between DARJEELING in India, and Bhutan. Of all the distributaries, the Old Brahmaputra

is the longest and was actually the course of the present Brahmaputra some 200 years ago.

Recently a 4.8-km long bridge has been constructed over the Jamuna for linking the eastern and

western parts of Bangladesh. The eastern edge of BANGABANDHU JAMUNA MULTIPURPOSE BRIDGE lies

in Bhuapur upazila of Tangail district and the western end in Sirajganj Sadar upazila of Sirajganj

district. Apart from quick movement of goods and passenger traffic by road and rail, it has facilitated

transmission of electricity and NATURAL GAS, and integration of telecommunication links. The bridge

was opened for traffic on 23 June 1998. A considerable volume of river training work was done to

keep the river within the bridge instead of a flood-width of 14 km at the bridge site.

The Jamuna is braided in nature. Within the braided belt of the Jamuna, there are lots of chars of

different sizes. An assessment of the 1992 dry season Landsat image shows that the Jamuna

contained a total of 56 large island chars, each longer than 3.5 km. There were an additional number

of 226 small island chars, varying in length between 0.35 and 3.5 km. This includes sandy areas as

well as vegetated chars. In the Jamuna, the period between 1973 and 2000, chars have consistently

appeared in the reaches opposite to the Old Brahmaputra offtakes, north and east of Sirajganj and in

the southernmost reach above the confluence with the Ganges. In entire Bangladesh during 1981 to

1993, a total of about 7,29,000 people were displaced by RIVERBANK EROSION. More than half of the

displacement was along the Jamuna.

Tista River বাাংলা

Tista River an important river of the northern region of Bangladesh. According to Hindu mythology,

it originated from the breast of Devi Parvati (Goddess Parvati). Actually it originates in Chitamu Lake

in the Sikkim Himalayas at an altitude of about 7,200 m and comes down first to the Darjeeling plain

and then to the Duar plain of West Bengal (India). It flows through a magnificent gorge known as

Sivok Gola in Darjeeling. It is a wild river in the Darjeeling Hills where its valley is clothed with

dense FOREST, but its drainage area in the mountains is only 12,500 sq km. It enters Bangladesh at

the Kharibari border of Nilphamari district.

Up to the close of the 18th century it flowed directly into the GANGES. The excessive rains of 1787

created a vast FLOOD and choked the original ATRAIchannel. This resulted in the Tista bursting into

the GHAGHAT which at that time was a very small river. After passing through Lalmonirhat, Rangpur,

Kurigram and Gaibandha districts this deluge falls into the JAMUNA south of Chilmari riverport. The

total length of the river is about 315 km, of which nearly 115 km lies within Bangladesh. The land

movement, EARTHQUAKES, floods and geological structural changes in the northern part of

Bangladesh affected the original flows of the KARATOYA, Atrai and Jamuneshwari rivers. The present

Tista is the result of these changes and the accumulated flows of the Karotoya, Atrai and

Jamuneshwari rivers. Actually the Bangla name Tista comes from Tri-Srota or three flows. Tista has

a mean monthly discharge of about 2,430 cumec. A number of old channels that were occupied by

this river and the Karatoya through which it joined the Ganges are still known as the Buri Tista or Old

Tista.

Karnafuli River বাাংলা

Karnafuli River the largest and most important river in CHITTAGONG and the CHITTAGONG HILL

TRACTS, originating in the Lushai hills in Mizoram State of India. It travels through 180 km of

mountainous wilderness making a narrow loop at RANGAMATI and then follows a zigzag course

before it forms two other prominent loops, the Dhuliachhari and the KAPTAI. The Rangamati and the

Dhuliachhari loops are now under the reservoir of the Kaptai earth-filled DAM. The hydroelectric dam

is situated just before the entrance of the river into the Kaptai loop. After coming out from the Kaptai

loop the river follows another stretch of tortuous course through the Sitapahar hill range and flows

across the plain of Chittagong after emerging from the hills near Chandraghona. Therefore, the river

drains into the BAY OF BENGAL cutting across several hill ranges, viz the Barkal, Gobamura,

Chilardak, Sitapahar and Patiya of the Chittagong Hill Tracts and Chittagong. It has possibly

maintained its older course keeping pace with the uplift of the hill ranges and can be classified as an

antecedent river. The Karnafuli is narrow and straight from Prankiang to WAGGACHHARI along Kaptai-

Chandraghona road. The straightness of the river is probably due to a fault, which controlled the

channel from Prankiang to Wagga. The main tributaries of the Karnafuli are the KASALONG,

Chengi, HALDA and Dhurung on the right and the Subalong, Kaptai, Rinkeong and Thega on the left.

Flowing to the west through RANGUNIA upazila and then keeping RAOZAN upazila on the north

and BOALKHALI upazila on the south, it receives the waters of the Halda river at Kalurghat just above

the railway bridge. It then turns south, receives the waters of the Boalkhali and other khals and turns

west circling round the eastern and southern sides of Chittagong Town. From the extreme corner of

the CHITTAGONG PORT to the west, it moves southwest to fall into the Bay of Bengal 16.89 km below.

It is navigable throughout the year by sea-going vessels up to Chittagong Port and by large BOATS,

shallow draughts and all sorts of freighters and launches up to Kaptai river in the Hill Tracts.

In Chittagong the Karnafuli made a most significant change in its course from Kalurghat downwards.

The change has been taking place for more than a century. Formerly, the river had a western and

southwestern course from Kalurghat and flowed by Sampanghata, Suloop Bahar, Kapashgola,

Chowk Bazar, Roomghata, Ghat Farhadbeg, Boxirhat, Patharghata on its rightbank. But gradually it

receded to the left throwing up vast and extensive alluvial lands along its rightbank, now known as

Char Bakalia, Chandgaon, Char Chaktai, etc. The above GHATS and bazars which once dotted the

right bank of the Karnafuli along the eastern limits of the town are now important localities in and

outside the municipality, far away from the present course of the river. This fact is of much historical

importance in so far as it helps locate the eastern bounds of the town during the Mughal and early

British period.

There is a legend about the naming of the Karnafuli river. It says an Arakanese princess who fell in

love with a tribal prince of Chittagong was once enjoying a moonlit boatride on the river with the

prince. While admiring the reflection of the moon dancing on the rippled water surface, the princess

inclined slightly and a flower tucked in the hair over her ear by the prince suddenly fell into the river.

The princess was grief-stricken at losing the flower, which she held very dear as a present from her

charming prince. She immediately jumped into the river to retrieve the flower but could not. Instead

she was carried away by the fast-flowing current and vanished in the river. The prince dived into the

river to rescue the princess but in vain. Out of sorrow he drowned himself in the river to unite with

the princess after death. This tragedy gave the river its name Karnafuli from the word 'karnaful'

meaning 'flower adorning the ear'. The river is known to the Marma tribe as the Kynsa Khyong.

Surma River বাাংলা

Surma River rises as the barak on the southern slopes of the Naga-Manipur watershed. The Barak

splits into two branches within Cachhar district of Assam in India. Surma, the northern branch, flows

west and then southwest to Sylhet town. Beyond SYLHET, it flows northwest and west to Sunamganj

town; from there to southwest and then south to Madna, where it meets the KUSHIYARA, the other

branch of the Barak. It receives several rivers and STREAMS flowing south from Meghalaya Plateau.

From east to west they are the Lubha, Hari (Kushia), Goyain Gang (Chengar Khal), PIYAIN,

Bogapani, Jadukata, Shomeshwari and KANGSA.

The Surma is flood-prone in the MONSOON. The FLOOD season is generally from the last week of May

to the middle of October, the mean discharge in this period being about 30,000 cusec. Between

1950 and 1958 the maximum and minimum discharge recorded were 53,008 cusec (15 August

1958) and 487 cusec (21 March 1954) respectively. The Surma is bifurcated in the south

of MOHANGANJ, and soon after it receives the Kangsa and further to the south the Mogra., The

western CHANNEL is known as the Dhanu in its upper course, the Baulai in the middle and the

Ghorautra lower down. It joins the MEGHNA near KULIARCHAR. The southern branch of the Barak, as

the Kushiyara, receives the Manu on the north of Maulvi Bazar town and is bifurcated into a northern

channel, the Bibiyana, and a southern one, which resumes the name of the original river, the Barak.

The Bibiyana changes its name to Kalni, lower down its course and joins the Surma near AJMIRIGANJ.

The Barak (western) receives the Gopla and the KHOWAI from the Tripura hills, and falls into the

Surma at Madna.

The way these rivers change their names is indeed confusing. To make matters worse, it seems that

there is no general agreement as to identify a river course by a single name, rather the entire course

of the river may bear different names along its path. The Surma from Ajmiriganj downstream is often

referred to as the Meghna. The matter would be simple but for the fact that from Madna downstream

for about 26 km (in a straight line) one of the two channels of the Surma-Meghna is known as

the DHALESHWARI. Northern Dhaleshwari has the behaviour of changing courses. The change takes

place south of Austagram, where both channels meet and come to be known as the Dhaleshwari. To

avoid confusion the main channel from Ajmiriganj down to the confluence of the Dhanu-Ghorautra is

referred to as the Surma. This confluence is 5 km east of Kuliarchar. Downstream from there, the

river is referred to as Meghna. Most of the Surma system falls into the Haor Basin, where the line of

drainage is not clear and well defined. In the Piedmont tract from DURGAPUR to JAINTIAPUR, the

network of streams and channels overflows in the rainy season and creates vast sheets of water

which connect the HAORS with the rivers. In the haor basin too, the rivers overflow and inundate the

haors in the early part of the rainy season and get back much of the water as soon as the monsoon

rains slacken.

Mahananda River বাাংলা

Mahananda River a major tributary of the ganges in Bangladesh. Originating from the HIMALAYAS,

southwest of Nepal, the river crosses Karsiang and Shiliguri in West Bengal (India). Flowing

southeast through the Purniah and Maldaha districts of West Bengal, it enters Bangladesh through

Bholahat upazila of Nawabganj (Chapai Nawabganj) district. The Mahananda then falls into the

Ganges at Godagari keeping Chapai Nawabganj town on the left. In Bangladesh, the length of the

Mahananda is about 36 km. According to the survey of WW Hunter (1876), once the Mahananda

was a wide and deep river allowing big cargo boats of 500 maund capacity (1 maund equals to

37.65 kg) to ply. It has neither any tributary nor any distributary.

The Mahananda is an important TRANS-BOUNDARY RIVER. India constructed a dam on the river 3 km

north of the border near Shiliguri in spite of objections from Bangladesh.

Atrai River বাাংলা

Atrai River one of the sacred RIVERS mentioned in the MAHABHARATA. Its ancient name was Atrei. It

originates about 10 km northeast of Shiliguri town of WEST BENGAL (India). Then it flows west of

the JAMUNA. It is the westernmost distributary of the BRAHMAPUTRA. It changes its name

from KARATOYAto Atrai near KHANSAMA upazila of DINAJPUR district. It again enters Bangladesh

through NAOGAON district. The CHANNEL bifurcates northwest of CHIRIRBANDAR and unites again

southwest of it. The western part is called the Gabura and the eastern part the Kankra. It flows

through the eastern part of Dinajpur town and enters West Dinajpur of West Bengal after passing

through Bhusir Bandar and Samjia Ghat.

The river then flows due south to MANDA upazila dividing the east-central and west-central parts of

the BARIND TRACT. It flows south and turns southeast, then flows through CHALAN BEEL and meets

the HURASAGAR river. It meets Jamuna near Baghabari through Hurasagar. The Atrai has several

tributaries of which the PUNARBHABA is the best known. Fakirni and Baral on the rightbank and the

Karatoya on the leftbank also deserve mention. In the greater Rajshahi-Pabna region its tributaries

are the Tulsiganga, Nandakua, Baranai and BARAL. The length of the river is about 380 km.