Padma River

This article is about the river. For other uses, see Padma (disambiguation).

Padma River
Padma River in Bangladesh
Origin	Himalayas
Mouth	Bay of Bengal
Basin countries	India, Bangladesh
Location	Nawabganj, Rajshahi, Pabna, Kushtia, Faridpur, Rajbari, and Chandpur District
Length	120 kilometres (75 mi)
Avg. discharge	Annual average: 35,000 m3/s (1,200,000 cu ft/s) During monsoon season: 750,000 m3/s (26,000,000 cu ft/s) During dry season: 15,000 m3/s (530,000 cu ft/s)
River system	Ganges River System

A map showing the major rivers that flow into the Bay of Bengal, including Padma.

The Padma (Bengali: পদ্মা Pôdda) is the name used in Bangladesh for a major trans-boundary river, known in India as the main distributary of the Ganges (Bengali: গঙ্গা Gôngga), the river system that originated in the western Himalayas. The Padma enters Bangladesh from India near Chapai Nababganj. It meets the Jamuna (Bengali: যমুনা Jomuna) near Aricha and retains its name, but finally meets with the Meghna (Bengali: মেঘনা) near Chandpur and adopts the name 'Meghna' before flowing into the Bay of Bengal.

Rajshahi, a major city in western Bangladesh, is situated on the north bank of the Padma. Its maximum depth is 1,571 feet (479 m) and average depth is 968 feet (295 m).

Course

Originating in the Gangotri Glacier of the Himalaya, the Ganges runs to the Bay of Bengal through India, entering Bangladesh at Shibganj in the district of Chapai Nababganj. Just west of Shibganj, the distributary Bhagirathi emerges and flows southwards as the Hooghly. After the point where the Bhagirathi branches off, the Ganges is officially referred to as the Padma and the river Bhagirathi is known as the Ganga. Later the British started calling it the Hoogly river.

Spritsailed boat on Padma River

Further downstream, in Goalando, 2200 km away from the source, the Padma is joined by the mighty Jamuna (Lower Brahmaputra) and the resulting combination flows with the name Padma further east, to Chandpur. Here, the widest river in Bangladesh, the Meghna, joins the Padma, continuing as the Meghna almost in a straight line to the south, ending in the Bay of Bengal.

Mythology

River Padma in Rainy Season

The Padma (Sanskrit for lotus flower) is mentioned numerous times in Hindu Mythology including the Vedas, the Puranas, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.^{[citation needed]} In all the epic stories, the river is mentioned as byname for the Goddess Lakshmi though the origin differs.

Damming

After building of Farakka Barrage on the upstream of the river in Indian West Bengal the capacity of the river was reduced significantly.

Bridge

A road-rail bridge was proposed in 2009.

Padma bridge is the largest bridge of Bangladesh (proposed). It will cost US$2.3 billion to finish. It was supposed to be open to the public in 2013. However,the future of the project became uncertain when in June 2012 World Bank cancelled its US $ 1.2 billion loan over corruption allegations. The loan was officially revived in September 2012, but negotiations are still underway.

Early history

The name Padma is given to the lower part of the course of the Ganga below the point of the off-take of the Bhagirathi (India). Padma had, most probably, flown through a number of channels at different times. Some authors contend that each distributary of the Ganges in its deltaic part is a remnant of an old principal channel, and that starting from the western-most one, the Bhagirathi (in West Bengal, India), each distributary to the east marks a position of a newar channel than the one to the west of it.

Rennell referred to a former course of the Ganges north of its present channel. "Appearances favour very strongly that the Ganges had its former bed in the tract now occupied by the lakes and morasses between Natore and Jafargonj, striking out of the present course by Dhaka to a junction of Brahmaputra or Meghna near Fringybazar, where accumulation of two such mighty streams probably scooped out the present amazing bed of the Meghna". The places mentioned by Rennell proceeding from west to east are Rampur Boali, the headquarters of Rajshahi district, Puthia and Natore in the same district and Jaffarganj in the district of Dhaka. The place last named were shown in a map of the Mymensingh district dated 1861, as a subdistrict (thana) headquarters, about 6 miles south-east of Bera police station. It is now known as Payla Jaffarganj and is close to Elachipur opposite Goalunda. According to Rennell's theory, therefore, the probable former course of the Ganges would correspond with that of the present channel of the Baral.

Authorities agree that the Ganges has changed its course and that at different times, each of the distributaries might have been the carrier of its main stream.

The bed of the Padma is wide, and the river is split up into several channels flowing between constantly shifting sand banks and islands. During the rains the current is very strong and even steamers may find difficult in making headway against it. It is navigable at all seasons of the year by steamers and country boats of all sizes and until recently ranked as one the most frequented waterways in the world. It is spanned near Paksey by the great Hardinge Bridge over which runs one of the main lines of the Bangladesh Railway.

Pabna District

The Padma forms the whole of the southern boundary of the district for a distance of about 90 miles.

Kushtia District

The mighty Padma touches the district at its most northerly corner, at the point where it throws off the Jalangi, and flows along the northern border in a direction slightly south-east, until it leaves the district some miles to the east of Kushtia. It carries immense volumes of water and is very wide at places, constantly shifting its main channel eroding vast areas on one bank throwing chars on the other giving rise to many disputes as to the possession of the chars and islands which are thrown up.

Gallery

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See also

• Railway stations in Bangladesh

External links

• Masud Hasan Chowdhury. "Padma River". In Sirajul Islam. Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh. Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.