Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Beautiful Padma River

Sunset scene at Padma
The Padma is a major trans-boundary river in Bangladesh. It is the main distributary of the Ganges which originates in the Himalayas. The Padma enters Bangladesh from India near Chapai Nababganj. It meets the Jamuna near Aricha and retains its name, but finally meets with the Meghna near Chandpur and adopts the name 'Meghna' before flowing into the Bay of Bengal.

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 khan takes 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.


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