Kushiyara River

Kushiyara river, Sylhet

The Kushiyara (Bengali: কুশিয়ারা নদী, romanized: Kuśiara Nôdi) is a transboundary river in Bangladesh and Assam, India. It forms on the India-Bangladesh border as a branch of the Barak River, when the Barak separates into the Kushiyara and Surma. The waters that eventually form the Kushiyara originate in the uplands of the state of Assam and pick up tributaries from Nagaland and Manipur.[1]

From its origin at the mouth of the Barak, also known as the Amlshid bifurcation point,[2] the Kushiyara flows westward forming the boundary between Assam, India, and the Sylhet District of Bangladesh.[3] It flows between the towns of Zakigonj, Sylhet, and Karīmganj, Assam,[2] and after the village of Pānjipuri enters entirely into the Beanibazar Upazila of Bangladesh. It then flows southwestward past the village of Deulgrām in Kurar Bazar Union where the river turns southward passing the village of Badepasha, Uttar Bade Pasha Union, Golapganj Upazila, where it again turns southwestward. It is joined from the left (east) by the Juri River at Fenchuganj Bazar. At Beel Pond (Pukhuri Beel) the river turns westward where it flows past the village of Balaganj Bazar in Balaganj Upazila, then southwestward past the villages of Hamjāpur, Abdullāpur and Manumukh. The river, after being joined from the left (south) by the Manu River (Monu River), flows northwest past the villages of Aorangapur, Tajpur, and Pāilgaon, where it is joined by the small Itakhola River and assumes a westward direction. After the village of Mārkuli the river heads southwest past the village of Pāhārpur to the village of Ajmiriganj Bazar. After that the river forms several braided streams and heads south where it is joined by the Khowai River from the left (east) and heads southwest where it is rejoined by the Surma (locally known as the Danu River) from the right (north) and becomes the Meghna River, just north of the town of Bhairab Bazar.[4] Altogether, the Kushiyara runs about 160 kilometers. At its deepest during the rainy season the Kushiyara can reach a depth of 10 meters.[1] During the dry season it can appear to dry up almost completely in a few places with the bulk of the load being carried subsurface, such as in the braided stream area south of Ajmiriganj Bazar.

In 2022 India and Bangladesh signed an interim water sharing pact with regard to the Kushiyara River.[5]

  1. ^ a b Tahmina Ahmed (2021). Sirajul Islam (ed.). "Kushiyara River". Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh. Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  2. ^ a b Alam, M. J. B.; Alam, R.; Uddin, M.; Nahar, T. (2007). "Study of Morphological Change of the Kushiyara and Monu Rivers by Remote Sensing". International Journal of Sediment Research. 22 (2): 159–167.
  3. ^ Grundy-Warr, Carl, ed. (1994). Eurasia. World Boundaries series, volume 3. London: Routledge. p. 107. ISBN 978-0-415-08834-3.
  4. ^ Uddin, Misbah (2010). Assessment of Morphological Aspects of Kushiyara-Monu River System (PDF). Masters Thesis. Dhaka: University of Engineering and Technology.
  5. ^ Roy, Shubhajit (7 September 2022). "Delhi, Dhaka sign river pact, first in 25 years; Hasina praises Modi". Indian Express. Archived from the original on 6 September 2022.