Geography of West Bengal - Rivers

Rivers

Ganges enters West Bengal near Rajmahal and then flows in a south-easterly direction. It divides into two near north of Dhulian in Murshidabad district. One branch enters Bangladesh as the Padma or Pôdda, while the other flows through West Bengal as the Bhagirathi River and Hooghly River in a southern direction. The Bhagirathi is the main river in West Bengal which flows past some of the important cities like Murshidabad, Baharampur, Nabadwip, Chinsura, Chandannagar, Srirampur, Howrah, Kolkata, Diamond Harbour and Haldia. It empties its water into Bay of Bengal near Sagar Island in the South 24 Parganas.

The Mayurakshi, Ajay, Damodar, Kangsabati, Rupnarayan and their tributaries which rise in the Western plateau and high lands flow eastwards through the different districts of West Bengal and joins the Bhagirathi on the right bank. The Mayurakshi, which is fed by tributaries Brahmani, Dwarka, Bakreshwar and Kopai joins the Bhagirathi near Kalna, the Ajay, which rises in the hills of Bihar, joined by the Kunur, flows down the plateau fringe, marking the boundary between Bardhaman and Birbhum districts joins it near Katwa and Damodar, with its small meandering distributaries, small streams, Khari, Banka and Behula joins the Bhagirathi near Uluberia. The Damodar is known as the sorrow of Bengal, is now controlled by making the Damodar Valley Project. The Dwarakeswar and Shilabati rivers join to form Rupnarayan and the Kangsabati and Keleghai rivers join to form the Haldi. The Rupnarayan and Haldi fall into the Bhagirathi in the Murshidabad district. The Subarnarekha River after flowing for a short distance in West Bengal reenters into Orissa. These rivers carry with them plenty of water thus keeping the Bhagirathi river submerged with water throughout the year. The rivers along with water carry silt and sand eroded from the western plateaus and deposits them in the Bhagirathi and the rivers themselves. This silting is causing great inconvenience for the Kolkata Port and often result flooding in the years of heavy rain.

The distributaries of the Padma River like Bhairab, Jalangi, Mathabhanga River and their tributaries enters West Bengal and joins the Bhagirathi on its left bank. The Bhairab and the Jalangi meet and their joined waters known as Jalangi falls into Bhagirathi. The Mathabhanga divides into branches namely; Churni and Ichhamati, while the Churni meets the Bhagirathi while the other flows southwards and joins the Kalindi.

The Sunderbans region is covered by numerous estuaries and streams, mainly distributaries of main rivers. The rivers are interconnected and are fed by tidal waters. The major rivers of the area are Hoogly, Matla, Gosaba, Saptamukhi, Haribhanga, Piyali, Thakuran/ Jamira, Raimangal, Kalindi and Ichhamati.

The Teesta flows cutting deep gorges from north to south in the mountainous Darjeeling district, it enters the plains at Sevoke and flows in a mighty stream on straight line towards the south east until it pours its waters into the Brahamaputra in Bangladesh. Torsa, Jaldhaka, Kaljani, Raidak, Sankosh and Mahananda rivers are in the northern hilly region which rise in the Himalayas and flow in a southerly direction through the districts of Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar and North and South Dinajpur and enters Bangladesh. As most of the rivers are snow fed, so most of the rivers are perennial in nature and often floods during the rainy season. The entire region is made up of sand, gravel and pebbles laid down by these rivers. The Mahananda rises from the Dow Hills forest, near the town of Darjeeling and are fed by similar small rivers like, Mahanadi, Balason, and Machi and runs in a zig-zag way through the district of Malda and joins the Padma in Bangladesh. In the central region, the main river is the Mahananda. The Tangon and Punarbhabha, and Atrai arises in the plains, while the former two joins together and flows into Mahanadi, Atrai flows into the Padma.