Bangladesh is a riverine country. According to Bangladesh Water development board (BWDB) [1] about 907 rivers currently flow in Bangladesh (during summer and winter), although the numbers stated in some sources are ambiguous. [2] [3] [4] As stated by a publication called বাংলাদেশের নদ-নদী by BWDB (Bangladesh Water development board), 310 rivers flow in the summer although they republished another study in 6 volumes where stated 405 rivers. [5] The number differs widely due to lack of research on the counts and the fact that these rivers change flow in time and season. Historical sources state about 700 to 800 [6] rivers but most of them have dried up or are extinct due to pollution and lack of attention. The numbers also differ because the same rivers may change names in different regions and through history. About 17 rivers are on the verge of extinction.
A total of 57 international rivers flow through Bangladesh, 54 from India and 3 from Myanmar. The number of international rivers can be 58 as Brahmaputra is called "Nod" while the general term for river is "Nodi". The gender division of rivers is interesting from history and mainly depending on the source of the river but not the size or flow briskness. Sangu and Halda are the only two internal rivers originated and finished within Bangladesh. Of the three major rivers, the Jamuna - part of the Brahmaputra - is the longest, Padma is the swiftest, and Meghna is the widest. According to banglapedia, 700 rivers flow in Bangladesh, [7] but the information is old and obsolete. There is an including tributaries flow through the country constituting a waterway of total length around 24,140 kilometres (15,000 mi). [8] But the number differs ambiguously due to the lack of updated information. Most of the country's land is formed through silt brought by the rivers. Bangladesh geography and culture is influenced by the riverine delta system. Bangladesh lies in the biggest river delta of the world - the Ganges Delta system.
Name of River | District Covered by a River in Miles | Total length in Miles |
---|---|---|
Surma-Meghna | Sylhet (180), Comilla (146), Barisal (90) | 221 miles (356 km) |
Karatoya-Atrai-Gurgumari-Hursagar | Dinajpur (161), Rajshahi (160) & Pabna (50) | 326 miles (525 km) |
Donai-Charalkata-Jamuneswari-Karatoya | Rangpur (120) Bogra (98) & Pabna (62) | 227 miles (365 km) |
Padma (Ganges) | Rajshahi (90) Pabna (60) Dhaka (60) & Faridpur (80) | 341 miles (549 km) |
Garai-Madhumati-Baleswar | Kushtia (36) Faridpur (70) Jessore (91) NarailKhulna (104) and Barisal (65) | 233 miles (375 km) |
Old Brahmaputra | Jamalpur,Mymensingh (172) | 150 miles (240 km) |
Brahmaputra-Jamuna | Jamalpur, Bogra,Sirajganj, Tangail,Pabna (75) | 94 miles (151 km) |
Kapotaksha | Jessore (49) Khulna (112) | 113 miles (182 km) |
Banshi | Jamalpur (123) Tangail (25) Gazipur | 115 miles (185 km) |
Ghagat | Rangpur (247) | 148 miles (238 km) |
Dhanu-Boulai-Ghor | Sylhet (68), Mymensingh (78) | 136 miles (219 km) |
Nabaganga | Kushtia (16) Jessore (128) | 144 miles (232 km) |
Kushiyara | Sylhet (142) | 143 miles (230 km) |
Bhogai-Kangsa | Mymensingh (140) | 141 miles (227 km) |
Jamuna | Dinajpur (100) Bogra (29) Tangail (205) | 56 miles (90 km) |
Dakatia | Comilla (112) Noakhali (17) | 69 miles (111 km) |
Little Feni | Noakhali (59) Comilla (62) | 50 miles (80 km) |
Bhadra | Jessore (36) Khulna (84) | 119 miles (192 km) |
Betna-Kholpotua | Jessore (64) Khulna (55) | 80 miles (130 km) |
Sangu | Chittagong (50) and Chittagong Hill Tracts (58) | 113 miles (182 km) |
Chitra | Kushtia (12) Jessore (94) | 97 miles (156 km) |
Banar | Faridpur (96) Barisal (5) | 101 miles (163 km) |
Kumar (Faridpur Di) | Faridpur (101) | 81 miles (130 km) |
Punarbhaba | Dinajpur (50) Rajshahi (50) | 100 miles (160 km) |
Arial Khan | Faridpur (64) Barisal (36) | 102 miles (164 km) |
Dhaleswari | Mymensingh (100) | 105 miles (169 km) |
Bhairab | Jessore (81) Khulna (18) | 136 miles (219 km) |
Mathabhanga | Rajshahi (10), Kushtia (87) | 81 miles (130 km) |
Rupsa-Pasur | Khulna (88) | 41 miles (66 km) |
Karnaphuli | Chittagong H.T. (40) Chittagong (37) | 100 miles (160 km) |
Teesta | Rangpur (70) | 71 miles (114 km) |
Following is a list of some of the major rivers of Bangladesh:
Much of Bangladesh's geography is dominated by the Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta, but the term "Ganges" is not widely used for the larger river's main distributary within Bangladesh. Where it flows out of India, the Ganges' main channel becomes the Padma River. Similarly, below its confluence with the Teesta River, the main channel of the Brahmaputra River is known as the Jamuna River.
There are quite a few rivers in the district of Bogra. Taking the Karatoya as the central dividing water-channel of the district, the other rivers may be classified into the eastern and the Western systems. The course of all the rivers is, with such allowances as must be made for beds and windings, nearly uniform north and south. The eastern rivers are Monas, Charkadaha and Khamati besides a few other smaller ones. Through the khiar tracts in the western parts of the district flow the Nagar, the Tulshiganga, Nagar and other minor streams. All the western rivers are the tributaries of the Atrai which itself flows into the Jamuna 19 kilometres (12 mi) north of the confluence of that river with the Ganges (padma) at Goalunda.
Evidences show that the rivers Karatoya and Nagar have changed their courses in the past, while the Jamuna, lying on the eastern boundary of the district, is in fact a new channel of the Brahmaputra. A very small river, Tarai used to occupy more or less the present location of the Jamuna. At that time the Brahmaputra used to flow to the east round the foot of the Garo Hills. The earliest evidence of the Brahmaputra river consists of a group of large Brahmaputra-size river scars which extend into the Sylhet basin flanking the southern edge of the Shillong plateau . The main river apparently extended east beyond this locality and then swung south into the Bay of Bengal. By the time of Rennell's mapping, this course had been abandoned in favour of a shorter route down what is still called the old Brahmaputra river past Mymensingh.
By the early 1770s the major diversion of the Brahmaputra into its present channel, west of the Madhupur jungle, had occurred. There is no complete agreement as to when this diversion down the Jenai river of Rennell occurred. Apparently by 1830 the diversion of low-river flow down the new channel was complete.
The rivers of the former Nadia district, of which Kushtia District was a part, were grouped together and known as "Nadia Rivers" because of the peculiar condition of the Nadia district and special measures taken by the government to keep them flowing. All the rivers of the former Nadia district (and of the present Kushtia District) were offshoots of the Padma (lower Ganges). But at one time when the Ganges found its way to the sea along the course of the Bhagirathi, there must have been some earlier streams to carry the drainage of the Darjeeling-Himalayas to the sea. Bhairab is said to be one of those streams. Later the Ganges drifted to the east and the Padma grew mighty, taking all the drainage of northern and upper Bengal.
The Jamuna, nowhere less than 4 miles wide during rain, runs in the west and the equally important Meghna encloses the district on the east. They are connected by the old channel of the Brahmaputra running through the centre of the district in a south-easterly direction from above Bahadurabad up to Bhairab Bazar.
The district of Noakhali is not intersected by as many rivers as the other deltaic districts of Bangladesh. On the western and southern parts of the district and between the islands flows the Meghna with all its bifurcations each of which is much larger than an ordinary river, and on the east the Feni subdivision is drained by the great and little Feni rivers. In the intervening country there are no rivers of any size and the drainage there depends on a few tidal channels or khals, of which the principal are the Noakhali khal, the Mahendra Khal and the Bhowaniganj Khal.
In sharp contrast with the mainland to its south, there is a network of khals in the islands. As one advances from the older formation of chars towards the newer ones, the number of khals gradually increases. The khals gradually silt up, but where diluvion goes on, new khals come into existence and the old ones become wider and wider.
The district is intersected by rivers of varying magnitude. But in fact, the river system is constituted by the Padma and the Jamuna with their interlacing offshoots and tributaries. Besides these flowing streams, the interior is visited by the abandoned beds of old rivers, most of which are dry except in the rains.
The general trend of the drainage of the Serajganj subdivision is from north-west to south-east, the rivers entering it from the north-west flow into the Jamuna after a tortuous course. In the Sadar subdivision, however, the general slope of the country is from west to east, and the main rivers fall into the Hurasagar, a tributary of the Jamuna.
Excepting the Ganges or the Padma, the Mahananda and the Atrai, the rivers of Rajshahi district are of little hydrographic importance. For, most of the rivers are more or less moribund, that is, they are not active flowing streams except during the rainy season. During the rainy season these moribund rivers act as excellent drainage channels draining off a large volume of water and have a considerable current. Most of these rivers are narrow and flow in well-defined channels.
Tangail District is flanked on the west by the mighty river Jamuna, which is nowhere less than 4 miles wide during the rainy season. The Dhaleshwari, first an old channel of the Ganges and then of the Brahmaputra, cuts across the south-western corner of the district on its powerful sweep to join the Meghna near Narayanganj. The old name of Dhaleshwari was "Gajghata". It used to flow afterwards by the Salimabad Channel and then at last by Porabari Channel. A part of the eastern boundary of the district runs close to the Banar River. The river Bangshi flows almost down the middle of the district, branching out from the old Brahmaputta to the north from near Jamalpur. Bangshi falls into Dhaleswari near Savar, in Dhaka district. The Bangshi forms a natural barrier to the Madhupur Jungle on the Tangail side, all the way from Madhupur to Mirzapur. It is fordable at only two or three places near Basail on its my to river Meghna. Dhaleswari itself however takes out from the Jamuna from inside Tangail district.
Among other important rivers of the district, Lohajang is worth mentioning. It flows past the district headquarters of Tangail and is almost dead at present (in moribund condition). Other rivers are Khiru, Nanglai, Atia, and Jhinai. The old Brahmaputra's most important offshoot is the Jhinai; striking off near Jamalpur it rejoins the Jamuna north of Sarishabari, while another branch flows past Gopalpur. Now these sub-systems of rivers, viz, Bangshi and Banar, and the Lohajang, Khiru, Nangtai, Atia and Jhinai are all dying out because of the shift of the old Brahmaputra river from its former channel to the present Jamuna channel.
The most important question in connection with the river system of Tangail vis-a-vis Mymensingh district is when and why the Brahmaputra River changed its main old channel. During the last 150 years or so, this diversion of the old Brahmaputra to its present Jamuna channel has considerably prompted the geographers and geologists to enquire deep into it. Two theories are advanced: As explanation of the diversion, one theory describes the gradual uplift of the Madhupur Tract and a final trigger action of the Teesta diversion in 1787 as the chief factor; and the other theory states that the Brahmaputra diversion resulted directly from a major increase in its volume of water due to beheading of the Tsangpo river of Tibet by Dihang, a tributary of the then small Brahmaputral. It has now been proved that the great Tibetan river Tsangpo joined the Brahmaputra about 1780 and this accession was more important than the Teesta floods in deciding the Brahmaputra to try a shorter way to the sea.
With the help of Major James Rennell's maps (1764 to 1773) and of the Revenue Survey it is possible to reconstruct the history of the Bengal Delta and its river systems. It was Rennell who carried out the first ever accurate cadastral surveys and laid the basis for the geographical study of Bengal. At the end of the 18th century, probably as a result of the great Tista floods in 1787, the Brahmaputra changed its course and joined the Padma at Goulundo. No piece-meal study of an intricate river system is possible, without distortion and inadequacy.
Even though we assume that the change in the course of the main waters of the old Brahmaputra took place suddenly in 1787, the year of the famous flooding of the Teesta river, the Teesta has been always a wandering river, sometimes joining the Ganges, sometimes being shifted outwards by the superior strength of the river Ganges and forced to join the Brahmaputra at last.
Whatever might have been the cause, by 1830, the diversion of old Brahmaputra was complete, ushering in a gradual but radical change in the river system of the Tangail district. The old channel of the Brahmaputra had been reduced to its present insignificance.
In 1850 Sir Joseph Hooker wrote "we are surprised to hear that within the last 20 years the main channel of Brahmaputra had shifted its course westwards, its eastern channel silted up so rapidly that the Jamuna eventually became the principal stream.
The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river which flows through Southwestern China, Northeastern India, and Bangladesh. It is known as Brahmaputra or Luit in Assamese, Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibetan, the Siang/Dihang River in Arunachali, and Jamuna River in Bengali. By itself, it is the 9th largest river in the world by discharge, and the 15th longest.
The Meghna is one of the major rivers in Bangladesh, one of the three that form the Ganges Delta, the largest delta on earth, which fans out to the Bay of Bengal. A part of the Surma-Meghna River System, the Meghna is formed inside Bangladesh in Kishoreganj District above the town of Bhairab Bazar by the joining of the Surma and the Kushiyara, both of which originate in the hilly regions of eastern India as the Barak River. The Meghna meets its major tributary, the Padma, in Chandpur District. Other major tributaries of the Meghna include the Dhaleshwari, the Gumti, and the Feni. The Meghna empties into the Bay of Bengal in Bhola District via four principal mouths, named Tetulia (Ilsha), Shahbazpur, Hatia, and Bamni.
The Padma is a major river in Bangladesh. It is the eastern and main distributary of the Ganges, flowing generally southeast for 356 kilometres (221 mi) to its confluence with the Meghna River near the Bay of Bengal. The city of Rajshahi is situated on the banks of the river. Since 1966, over 66,000 hectares of land has been lost to erosion of the Padma.
Tangail is a district (zila) in the central region of Bangladesh. In 1969, Tangail district was created by Tangail Mohokuma from its 237 square kilometers of land and 3177 square kilometers of land acquired from Mymensingh district. It is the largest district of Dhaka division by area and second largest by population. The population of Tangail zila is about 4 million and its area is 3,414.28 square kilometres (1,318.26 sq mi). The main city of the district is Tangail. It is surrounded by Jamalpur District on the north, the Dhaka and Manikganj Districts on the south, Mymensingh and Gazipur on the east, and Sirajganj on the west.
The Jamuna River is one of the three main rivers of Bangladesh. It is the lower stream of the Brahmaputra River, which originates in Tibet as Yarlung Tsangpo, before flowing through India and then southwest into Bangladesh. The Jamuna flows south and joins the Padma River, near Goalundo Ghat, before meeting the Meghna River near Chandpur. It then flows into the Bay of Bengal as the Meghna River.
Tangail is a city of Tangail District in central Bangladesh. A significant city in Bangladesh, Tangail lies on the bank of the Louhajang River, 83 kilometres (52 mi) northwest of Dhaka, the nation's capital. It is the 25th most populous city in Bangladesh.
The Dhaleshwari River is a distributary, 160 kilometres (99 mi) long, of the Jamuna River in central Bangladesh. It branches off the Jamuna near the northwestern tip of Tangail District. After that it divides into two branches: the north branch retains the name Dhaleshwari and merges with the other branch, the Kaliganga River at the southern part of Manikganj District. Finally the merged flow meets the Shitalakshya River near Narayanganj District. This combined flow goes southwards to merge into the Meghna River.
Mymensingh District is a district in Mymensingh Division, Bangladesh, and is bordered on the north by Meghalaya, a state of India and the Garo Hills, on the south by Gazipur District, on the east by the districts of Netrokona and Kishoreganj, and on the west by the districts of Sherpur, Jamalpur and Tangail. Mymensingh is the 8th administrative divisional headquarter and 12th city corporation of Bangladesh. According to Ministry of Public Administration, Mymensingh is ranked 4th in district status. The density of Mymensingh city is 44,458/km2 which is the second most densely populated city in Bangladesh. Mymensingh attracts 25 percent of health tourists visiting Bangladesh. Once known as the largest district of the Indian subcontinent. Mymensingh town is the district headquarters.
The Surma-Meghna River System is a river complex in the Indian Subcontinent, one of the three that form the Ganges Delta, the largest on earth. It rises in the Manipur Hills of northeast India as the Barak River and flows west becoming the Surma River and then flows south as the Meghna River, a total of 946 kilometres (588 mi) of which 669 kilometres (416 mi) are within Bangladesh, to the Bay of Bengal.
Chalan Beel is a wetland in the Sirajganj, Natore and Pabna districts of Bangladesh. It is a large inland depression, marshy in character, with rich flora and fauna. Forty-seven rivers and other waterways flow into the Chalan Beel. As silt builds up in the beel, its size is being reduced.
The Bangali River is one of the main rivers in northern Bangladesh. As of 2007, the river is in the news because of the possibility that it might merge with the Jamuna River, which could lead to major changes in the geography of the region.
Karatoya River is a small stream in Rajshahi Division of Bangladesh.
The Bangshi is an important river in central Bangladesh. It originates in Jamalpur, from the course of the old Brahmaputra and flows past the Madhupur tract. It flows through Tangail and meets the Tongi in Ghazipur. It passes near Jatiyo Smriti Soudho in Savar and falls into the Dhaleshwari. About 238 kilometres (148 mi) long, it is not navigable for most of the year except when swelled by the monsoon rains. Louhajang River is a tributary of the Bangshi. Dhamrai on the banks of the Bangshi is famous for its muslin weaving.
Louhajang River is located in central Bangladesh. It branches off from the Jamuna near Gabsain at Bhuapur, Tangail District. Thereafter it bifurcates before the two parts meet up again. It flows past Tangail city, Karotia and Jamurki before joining the Bangshi. The Louhajang is linked with the Dhaleshwari.
The Bhairab is a river in south-western Bangladesh, a distributary of the Ganges. It passes through Khulna, dividing the city into two parts. Bhairab River originates from Tengamari border of Meherpur District and passes through Jessore city. The river is approximately 160 kilometres (100 mi) long and 91 metres (300 ft) wide. Its average depth is 1.2 to 1.5 metres and with minimal water flow, it has plenty of silt.
The Chiknai River, also known as the Dangha, is located in Bangladesh in the beels west of Chatmohor in Pabna District.
The Narayanganj–Bahadurabad Ghat line is a railway line connecting Narayanganj and Bahadurabad Ghat in Bangladesh. There are branch lines to Jagannathganj Ghat and Netrakona-Mohanganj. This track is under the jurisdiction of Bangladesh Railway.
The Old Brahmaputra River is a distributary of the Brahmaputra River in north-central Bangladesh. Historically it constituted the main stem of the Brahmaputra, however, the larger river's primary outflow was redirected via the Jamuna River after the 1762 Arakan earthquake. Today, the Old Brahmaputra has been relegated to a minor river with much less flow than its former self. The river branches off from the Brahmaputra in Jamalpur District and Mymensingh then flows southeasterly for approximately 200 km (120 mi) before meeting the Meghna River in Kishoreganj District.