The Padma ( bn, পদ্মা
''Pôdma'') is a major river in
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
. It is the main
distributary
A distributary, or a distributary channel, is a stream that branches off and flows away from a main stream channel. Distributaries are a common feature of river deltas. The phenomenon is known as river bifurcation. The opposite of a distributar ...
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 river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...
, flowing generally southeast for to its confluence with the
Meghna River
The Meghna River ( bn, মেঘনা নদী) 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, ...
near the
Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line between ...
.
The city of
Rajshahi 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 of land has been lost due to erosion of the Padma.
History
Etymology
The Padma,
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
for
lotus flower
''Nelumbo nucifera'', also known as sacred lotus, Laxmi lotus, Indian lotus, or simply lotus, is one of two extant species of aquatic plant in the family Nelumbonaceae. It is sometimes colloquially called a water lily, though this more often ref ...
, is a mentioned in
Hindu mythology
Hindu mythology is the body of myths and literature attributed to, and espoused by, the adherents of the Hindu religion, found in Hindu texts such as the Vedic literature, epics like ''Mahabharata'' and ''Ramayana'', the Puranas, and reg ...
as a byname for the Goddess
Lakshmi
Lakshmi (; , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism. She is the goddess of wealth, fortune, power, beauty, fertility and prosperity, and associated with ''Maya'' ("Illusion"). Alo ...
.
The name ''Padma'' is given to the lower part of the course of the Ganges (Ganga) below the point of the off-take of the Bhagirathi River (India), another Ganges River distributary also known as the
Hooghly River
The Bhagirathi Hooghly River (Anglicized alternatively spelled ''Hoogli'' or ''Hugli'') or the 'Bhāgirathi-Hooghly', called the Ganga or the Kati-Ganga in mythological texts, is the eastern distributary of the Ganges River in West Bengal, Indi ...
. Padma had, most probably, flowed 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 westernmost one, the Bhagirathi (in West Bengal, India), each distributary to the east marks a position of a newer channel than the one to the west of it.
Geographic effects
Eighteenth-century geographer
James Rennell referred to a former course of the Ganges north of its present channel, as follows:
The places mentioned by Rennell proceeding from west to east are
Rampur Boali
Boali is a town located in the Central African Republic prefecture of Ombella-M'Poko.
Boali is located on National Highway 1 (RN1), about 100 km northwest of the national capital, Bangui. The road, one of the country's few paved highways, ...
, the headquarters of
Rajshahi district,
Puthia
The Puthia Temple Complex consists of a cluster of notable old Hindu temples in Puthia Upazila, Rajshahi District, Bangladesh. Located 23 km to the east of Rajshahi city, it has the largest number of historic temples in Bangladesh.McAdam, Ma ...
and
Natore in the same district and Jaffarganj in the district of
Dhaka
Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...
. The place last named were shown in a map of the
Mymensingh
Mymensingh ( bn, ময়মনসিংহ) is the capital of Mymensingh Division, Bangladesh. Located on the bank of Brahmaputra River, about north of the national capital Dhaka, it is a major financial center and educational hub of north ...
district dated 1861, as a subdistrict (thana) headquarters, about south-east of
Bera Upazila
Bera ( bn, বেড়া) is an upazila of Pabna District in the Division of Rajshahi, Bangladesh.
Geography
Bera is located at . It has 35,351 households and a total area of . It is known as 2nd Adamjee because there is big market for jute and ...
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 River.
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 difficulty 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 of 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.
Geography
The Padma enters Bangladesh from India near
Nawabganj and meets the
Jamuna ( bn, যমুনা ''Jomuna'') near Aricha and retains its name, but finally meets with the
Meghna ( bn, মেঘনা) near Chandpur and adopts the name "Meghna" before flowing into the
Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line between ...
.
Rajshahi, a major city in western Bangladesh, is situated on the north bank of the Padma.
The Ganges originates in the
Gangotri
Gangotri is a town and a ''Nagar Panchayat'' (municipality) in Uttarkashi district in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is 99 km from Uttarkashi, the main district headquarter. It is a Hindu pilgrim town on the banks of the river Bhagirathi ...
Glacier of the Himalaya, and runs through India and Bangladesh to the Bay of Bengal. The Padma enters
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
at
Shibganj
Shibganj Upazila ( bn, শিবগঞ্জ উপজেলা) is an upazila of Bogra District in the Division of Rajshahi Division, Rajshahi, Bangladesh. The upazila was created in 1983. It is named after its administrative center, the town of S ...
in the district of
Chapai Nababganj
Chapainawabganj (Bengali: চাঁপাইনবাবগঞ্জ) is located in the north-western part of Bangladesh. It is a part of the Rajshahi Division, and was formerly a sub-division of Malda district. The north and west part of Chap ...
. The Ganges branches into two distributaries, the
Hooghly and the
Padma at
Giria in
Murshidabad district of
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. The Hooghly River, which continues southwards in India is also known as the Ganga (traditionally) and Bhagirathi.
Further downstream, in Goalando, from the source, the Padma is joined by the Jamuna (Lower
Brahmaputra
The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river which flows through Tibet, northeast India, and Bangladesh. It is also known as the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibetan, the Siang/Dihang River in Arunachali, Luit in Assamese, and Jamuna River in Bangla. It ...
) 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.
Pabna District
The Padma forms the whole of the southern boundary of the
Pabna District for a distance of about .
Kushtia District
The
Jalangi River is thrown off at the point where the mighty Padma touches the district at its most northernly corner, and flows along the northern border in a direction slightly southeast, until it leaves the district several kilometres to the east of
Kushtia
Kushtia ( bn, কুষ্টিয়া) is a city in the Khulna Division of southwestern Bangladesh. Kushtia is the second largest municipality in Bangladesh and the eleventh largest city in the country. The second largest city in Khulna div ...
. 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.
Murshidabad District
Murshidabad District situated on the western bank of The Padma. It flows dividing the Rajshahi and
Murshidabad District of
West Bengal
West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...
and created a natural river border between
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
and
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
.
Jalangi
Jalangi is a Bazaar, with a police station, identified in 2011 census, in Jalangi CD Block in Domkol subdivision of Murshidabad district in the state of West Bengal, India. This Bazaar is situated beside the Padma River
Geography
Location
Ja ...
area of the district was seriously affected by
River bank erosion of Padma.
Rajshahi District
Rajshahi is the largest city among the cities which is situated on the bank of Padma river. It is the third largest city in Bangladesh. It is a major city in the north Bengal. Rajshahi has a decorated embankment of Padma. Rajshahi Collegiate School is one of the oldest schools in Indian Subcontinent, situated on Padma river bank. The school was endangered three times by the disintegration of the Padma river. Padma Food Garden, A.H.M. Kamaruzzaman Central Park and Zoo, Barokuthi Nandan Park, Muktamancha, and 'T' shaped embankment (Bengali: টি বাঁধ) are best tourist spot in Rajshahi which are situated on the bank of Padma river.
Infrastructure
Damming
After the construction of the
Farakka Barrage on the Ganges River in
West Bengal
West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...
, 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 Padma's distributaries, increased saltwater intrusion from the Bay of Bengal, and damage to the mangrove forests of the
Sundarbans.
Padma Bridge
The
Padma Bridge is the Bangladesh's largest, estimated at US$3 billion to finish. The bridge was inaugurated on 25 June 2022.
It was supposed to be open to the public in 2013. However, the future of the project became uncertain when in June 2012 the
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...
cancelled its $1.2 billion loan over corruption allegations. In June 2014, the government of Bangladesh, proceeding without the loan, 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 10 December 2020.
The last road slab was installed on the span that linked the pillars 12 and 13 of the Padma bridge on 24 August 2021.
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
Lalon Shah Bridge ( bn, লালন শাহ সেতু), locally known as Pakshey Bridge is a road bridge in Bangladesh over the river Padma, situated between Ishwardi Upazila of Pabna on the east, and Bheramara Upazila of Kushtia on the we ...
and
Hardinge Bridge also crosses the Padma further upstream.
See also
*
Ganges Barrage Project
The Ganges Barrage Project was a proposed project in Bangladesh to hold back rain water of the monsoon season because of the periodic drying up of the Ganges River in Bangladesh due to the Farakka Barrage. It was formally cancelled in 2017.
Loc ...
*
Railway stations in Bangladesh
This is a list of railway stations in Bangladesh division-wise:
Existing Dhaka Division Dhaka District
# Airport railway station
#Banani railway station
# Cantonment railway station
# Gendaria railway station
# Kamalapur railway station
# S ...
References
External links
*
{{Coord, 23, 16, N, 90, 36, E, type:waterbody_region:BD_dim:75000, display=title
International rivers of Asia
Border rivers
Distributaries of the Ganges
Rivers of Bangladesh
Rivers of West Bengal
Bay of Bengal
Rajshahi District
Rivers of India
Rivers of Dhaka Division
Rivers of Rajshahi Division
Rivers of Chittagong Division