Composition : The Rivers of Bangladesh

The Rivers of Bangladesh

Bangladesh is a land of rivers. It is a low-lying land and it surrounded by a network of rivers.

The principal rivers of Bangladesh are the Padma, the Jamuna, the Brahmaputra, the Meghna, the Dhaleswari and the Karnafulli. Some of the other rivers are the Surma, the Teesta and the Buriganga. The principal rivers have their origin in the Himalayas. Most of them flow into the Bay of Bengal.

Rivers do great good to us. Agriculture is the main source of our living and income. The role of rivers in agriculture is very great. Highway and railway communication are not very improved in our country. So riverways are the main means of communication. Rivers give us plenty of fish. Fish is an important item of our daily food. Rivers are thus a great source of wealth. They help our trade, commerce and industries. All the important towns and big markets have grown up by the side of rivers. We also get energy from the water of the rivers. From all sides, the importance of rivers in our country is very great.

Rivers also do harm to us when their water overflows. They very often cause floods in our country. They sweep away the banks and damage crops and houses. In Bangladesh, thousands of people are landless as they are the victims of waters erosion of some mighty rivers, the Padma, the Jamuna and the Meghna.

Our rivers are greatly beneficial to us. The prosperity of Bangladesh depends largely on our rivers. If we can use our rivers in proper ways, they can give us maximum benefit.

---

Same composition collected from another book

---

The pride of Bangladesh is its river with one of the largest networks in the world with a total number of about 700 rivers including tributaries, which have a total length of about 24,140km. They consist of tiny hilly streams, winding seasonal creeks, muddy canals (khals), some truly magnificent rivers and their tributaries and distributaries. In some places, such as Patuakhali, Barishal and Sundarbans area the watercourses are so plentiful that they form a veritable maze. The watercourses of the country are obviously not eventually distributed. They increase in numbers and size from the northwest of the northern region to the southeast of southern region. Bangladesh has predominantly four major river systems – (1) the Brahmaputra-Jamuna (2) the Ganges-Padma, (3) the Surma-Meghna, and (4) the Chattogram Region river system. However, Brahmaputra is the 22nd longest (2,850) and the Ganges is the 30th longest (2,510 km) river in the world. 

Preparing a complete list of the rivers of Bangladesh more of less tough as often a single river possesses different names at different places. Even a five or six-kilometre segment has a different name upstream or downstream. Also, a single name is used for different rivers in different locations. 

Here, an attempt has been made to present district wise list of rivers :

River	Length (km)	Areas covered (old districts) in km
Arial Khan	160	Faridpur (102), Barishal (58)
Bangshi	238	Mymensingh (198), Dhaka (40)
Betna-Kholpotua	191	Jashore (103), Khulna (88)
Bhadra	193	Jashore (58), Khulna (135)
Bhairab	250	Jashore, Khulna
Bhogai-Kangsa	225	Mymensingh (225)
Brahmaputra-Jamuna (Jamuna 207)	276	Rangpur (140), Pabna (136)
Buriganga	27	Dhaka (27)
Chitra	170	Kushtia (19), Jashore (151)
Dakatia	207	Cumilla (180), Noakhali (27)
Dhaleshwari	160	Mymensingh, Dhaka
Dhanu-Baulai-Ghorautra	235	Mymensingh (126), Sylhet (109)
Donai-Charalkata-Jamuneshwari-Karatoya	450	Rangpur (193), Bogura (157), Pabna (100)
Ganges-Padma (Ganges 258, Padma 120)	378	Rajshahi (145), Pabna (98), Dhaka and Faridpur (135)
Gorai-Madhumati-Baleshwar	371	Kushtia (37), Faridpur (71), Jashore (92), Khulna   (104), Barishal (67)
Ghaghat	236	Rangpur (236)
Karatoya-Atrai-Gur-Gumani-Hurasagar	597	Dinajpur (259), Rajshahi (258), Pabna (80)
Karnafuli	180	Chattogram HT, Chattogram
Kobadak	260	Jashore (80), Khulna (180)
Kumar	162	Jashore, Faridpur
Kushiyara	228	Sylhet (228)
Little Feni-Dakatia	195	Noakhali (95), Cumilla (100)
Lower Meghna	160	from Chandpur to the Bay of Bengal
Matamuhuri	287	Chattogram HT and Chattogram
Matabhanga	156	Rajshahi (26), Jashore (204)
Nabaganga	230	Kushtia (26), Jashore (204)
Old Brahmaputra	276	Mymensingh (276)
Punarbhaba	160	Dinajpur (80), Rajshahi (80)
Rupsa-Pasur	141	Khulna (141)
Sangu	173	Chattogram (80), Chattogram Hill Tracts (93)
Surma-Meghna	670	Sylhet (290), Cumilla (235), Barishal (145)
Tista	115	Rangpur (115)