List of rivers of BangladeshFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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River Padma in Rainy Season

River Meghna from the bridge over the river

Ganges and Brahmaputra

Bangladesh is a riverine country. About 800 rivers including tributaries flow through the country constituting a

waterway of total length around 24,140 km.[1] Most of the country's land is formed through silt brought by the

rivers. Following is a list of some of the major rivers of Bangladesh:

Atrai River

Bangali River

Balu River

Baral River

Biskhali River

Bhairab River

Brahmaputra River

Buriganga River

Bura Gauranga River

Chiknai River

Chitra River

Dakatia River

Dhaleshwari River

Dhansiri River

Dharla River

Dhepa River

Dhanu River

Feni River

Garai River

Gomti River

Gorai-Madhumati River

Halda River

Ichhamati River

Jaldhaka River

Jamuna River

Jinai River

Kaliganga River

Kangsha River

Karatoya River

Karnaphuli River

Kazipur River

Khowai River

Kirtankhola

Kobadak River

Kopothakho River

Kumar River

Kushiyara River

Mahananda River

Manu River, Tripura

Modhumoti River

Mathabhanga River

Meghna River

Muhuri River

Nabaganga River

Naf River

Nagar River

Nalia River

Padma River

Punarbhaba River

Pusur River

Shitalakshya River

Surma River

Teesta River

Titas River

Tulshiganga River

Turag River

Contents

  [hide] 

1 Bogra District

o 1.1 Rivers in Bogra District

2 Kushtia District

o 2.1 Rivers in Kushtia District

3 Mymensingh District

o 3.1 Rivers in Mymensingh District

4 Noakhali District

o 4.1 Rivers in Noakhali District

5 Pabna District

o 5.1 Rivers in Pabna District

6 Rajshahi District

o 6.1 Principal rivers in Rajshahi District

7 Tangail District

o 7.1 Rivers in Tangail District

8 References

Bogra District[edit]

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 12 miles north of the confluence

of that river with the Ganges (padma) at Goalunda. Evidences show that the rivers Karatoya and Nagarhave

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

pastMymensingh.

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.

Rivers in Bogra District[edit]

1. Bangali River 2. Karatoya River 3. Nagar River 4. Jamuna River 5. Tulshiganga River

Kushtia District[edit]

The rivers of the former Nadia district, of which Kushtia 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 for the

matter of that) 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. Mter the Ganges drifted to the

east and the Padma grew mighty and majestic all the drainage of northern and upper Bengal was intercepted

by it.

Rivers in Kushtia District[edit]

1. Padma River 2. Bhairab River 3. Mathabhanga River 4. Kobadak River 5. Garai River 6. Kaliganga

River 7. Kumar River

Mymensingh District[edit]

The Jamuna, nowhere less than 4 miles wide duriug rains, is running in the west and the equally

important Meghna encloses the district on the east. They are connected by the old channel of

theBrahmaputra running through the centre of the district in a south-easterly direction from

above Bahadurabad up to Bhairab Bazar.

Rivers in Mymensingh District[edit]

1. Dhanu River 2. Kangsha River 3. Jinai River 4. Brahmaputra River 5. [pakhria River]

Noakhali District[edit]

The district of Noakhali is not intersected by so many rivers as the other deltaic districts of Bangladesh. On the

west and south of the district and between the islands flows the Meghna with all its bifurcations each of which is

much bigger 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.

Rivers in Noakhali District[edit]

1. Meghna River 2. Dakatia River 3. Bhawaniganj Khal River 4. Mahendrak Khal River 5. Noakhali Khal

River 6. Little Feni River 7. Big Feni River 8. Muhuri River 9. Seloneah River

Pabna District[edit]

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 Hurasagar, an offshoot of the

Jamuna.

Rivers in Pabna District[edit]

1. Padma River 2. Ichhamati River 3. Baral River 4. Atrai River 5. Chiknai River 6. Jamuna River 7. Kazipur

River 8. Karatoya River

Rajshahi District[edit]

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.

Principal rivers in Rajshahi District[edit]

1. Padma River 2. Mahananda River 3. Atrai River 4. Gur River 5. Jamuna River 6. Baral River 7. Musakhan

River 8. Nandakuja River 9. Gumani River 10. Baralai River 11. Narad River

Tangail District[edit]

The newly formed 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 comer of the district on its powerful sweep to join

the Meghna near Narayanganj. The old name of Dhaleswari was "Gajghata". It used to flow afterwards by the

Salimabad Channel and then at last by Porabari Channell. 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 only fordable at 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 areKhiru, Nanglai Nadi, Atai,

and Jhinai. The old Brahmaputra's most important off-shoot is the Jhinai; striking off near Jamalpur it rejoins

the Jamuna north of Sarishabari, while another branch flows past Gopalpur[disambiguation needed]. Now these sub-

systems of rivers, viz, Bangshi and Banar, and the Lohajang, Khiru, Nangtai Nadi, 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 Bmbmaputra 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 gradua1 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 Rennel'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 Rennel who carried out the first ever

accurate cadestral 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 oastwards by the superior strength of the river

Ganges and forced to join the Brahmaputra at last.

Whatever might have been the cause, it is obvious that 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.

Rivers in Tangail District[edit]

1. Jamuna River