The Padma () is a major

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

in Bangladesh. It is the eastern and main

distributary A distributary, or a distributary channel is a stream channel that branches off and flows a main stream channel. It is the opposite of a ''tributary'', a stream that flows another stream or river. Distributaries are a result of river bifurc ...

of the

Ganges The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...

, flowing generally southeast for to its confluence with the

Meghna River The Meghna () is one of the major rivers in Bangladesh, one of the three that form the Ganges Delta, the largest delta on earth, which fans out to the Bay of Bengal. A part of the Surma-Meghna River System, the Meghna is formed inside Banglade ...

, near the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. Geographically it is positioned between the Indian subcontinent and the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese peninsula, located below the Bengal region. Many South Asian and Southe ...

. The city of

Rajshahi Rajshahi (, ) is a metropolis, metropolitan city and a major Urban area, urban, administrative, commercial and educational centre of Bangladesh. It is also the administrative seat of the eponymous Rajshahi Division, division and Rajshahi Distr ...

is situated on the banks of the river.Hossain ML, Mahmud J, Islam J, Khokon ZH and Islam S (eds.) (2005) Padma, Tatthyakosh Vol. 1 and 2, Dhaka, Bangladesh, p. 182 . Since 1966, over 66,000 hectares of land have been lost to erosion of the Padma.

History

Etymology

The Padma,

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

for

lotus flower ''Nelumbo nucifera'', also known as the pink lotus, sacred lotus, Indian lotus, or simply lotus, is one of two extant taxon, extant species of aquatic plant in the Family (biology), family Nelumbonaceae. It is sometimes colloquially called a ...

, is mentioned in ancient Hindu scripts as a byname for the Goddess

Lakshmi Lakshmi (; , , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, , ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism, revered as the goddess of wealth, fortune, prosperity, beauty, fertility, sovereignty, and abundance. She along with Parvat ...

Geographic effects

Eighteenth-century geographer

James Rennell Major (United Kingdom), Major James Rennell (3 December 1742 – 29 March 1830) was an English geographer, historian and a pioneer of oceanography. Rennell produced some of the first accurate maps of Bengal at one inch to five miles as well as a ...

referred to a former course of the Ganges north of its present channel, as follows: Speedboat Padma River

Murshidabad District

Murshidabad District is situated on the western bank of the Padma. It flows dividing the Rajshahi and

Murshidabad District Murshidabad district is a district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Situated on the left bank of the river Ganges, the district is very fertile. Covering an area of and having a population 7.103 million (according to 2011 census), it ...

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

and created a natural river border between India and Bangladesh. The Jalangi area of the district was seriously affected by river bank erosion of the Padma. PADRAJ

Infrastructure

Damming

After the construction of the Farakka Barrage on the Ganges River in

, the maximum flows in the Padma River were reduced significantly. The flow reduction caused many problems in Bangladesh, including the loss of fish species, the drying of the Padma's distributaries, increased saltwater intrusion from the Bay of Bengal, and damage to the mangrove forests of the

Sundarbans Sundarbans (; pronounced ) is a mangrove forest area in the Ganges Delta formed by the confluence of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna Rivers in the Bay of Bengal. It spans the area from the Hooghly River in India's state of West Bengal ...

Padma Bridge

The

Padma Bridge The Padma Multipurpose Bridge, commonly known as the Padma Bridge, is a Double-decked bridge, two-level road-rail bridge across the Padma River, the main distributary of the Ganges in Bangladesh. It connects Louhajang Upazila of Munshiganj Dist ...

is Bangladesh's largest bridge and cost an estimated US$3 billion to complete. It was inaugurated on the 25th of June 2022. It was supposed to be open to the public in 2013, but the project's future became uncertain when, in June 2012, the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

cancelled its $1.2 billion loan over allegations of corruption. In June 2014, the government of Bangladesh, proceeded without the loan and hired a Chinese firm to construct the main part of the bridge. In October 2014, it hired a South Korean firm to supervise construction, with the aim of finishing the project by 2018. The final (41st) span of the bridge was installed on the 10th of December 2020. The last road slab was installed on the span that linked pillars 12 and 13 of the Padma bridge on the 24th of August 2021. A dying river

In 2009, government plans also included rail lines on both sides of the Padma with a connection via the new bridge. The Lalon Shah Bridge and Hardinge Bridge also crosses the Padma further upstream.

References

External links

* {{Coord, 23, 16, N, 90, 36, E, type:waterbody_region:BD_dim:75000, display=title Bay of Bengal Border rivers Distributaries of the Ganges International rivers of Asia Rajshahi District Rivers of Bangladesh Rivers of Chittagong Division Rivers of Dhaka Division Rivers of Rajshahi Division Rivers of West Bengal