Kushiyara River

The Kushiyara River is a distributary 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 of the Kushiyara thus originate in the state of Nagaland in India and pick up tributaries from Manipur, Mizoram and Assam.[1]

Kushiyara river, Sylhet

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 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.