From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Shitalakshya River

Field	Value
name	Shitalakshya River
image	BD Sitalakhya River.JPG
image_caption	Shitalakhya River near Narayanganj
map	BD Map Central Bangladesh.jpg
subdivision_type1	Country
subdivision_name1	Bangladesh
subdivision_type5	City
subdivision_name5	Narayanganj
length	110 km
discharge1_location	Meghna River

Shitalakshya River ( pronounced: Shitalokkha Nodi) (also known as Lakshymā River) is a distributary of the Brahmaputra. A portion of its upper course is known as Banar River or Banor River. In the Shitalakshya's initial stages, it flows in a southwest direction and then east of the city of Narayanganj in central Bangladesh until it merges with the Dhaleswari near Kalagachhiya. The river is about 110 km long and at it widest, near Narayanganj, it is 300 m across. Its flow, measured at Demra, has reached 2600 cuft/s. It remains navigable year round. The Shitalakshya flows through Gazipur district, forming its border with Narsingdi for some distance and then through Narayanganj District.

The river's maximum depth is 70 ft and average depth is 33 ft.

Course

The Shitalakshya branches off the Old Brahmaputra and flows through the eastern part of Dhaka District almost parallel to the Old Brahmaputra. It passes by Narayanganj and joins the Dhaleshwari River.

In the map of Mattheus van den Brouck, director of the Dutch East India Company, the river is marked as the Lecki, flowing west of the Brahmaputra. In Van den Brouck's time (1660), it was a large and swift flowing river. It was so till the early 19th century. There, however, are some reservations about the accuracy of Van den Brouck's map.

Historical importance

Sonargaon, a former capital of the region, stood on the banks of the Shitalakshya. Isa Khan, a former ruler of the area, built a fort on the river's banks. It is believed to be connected with Lalbagh Fort in Dhaka through a tunnel. Sonakanda Fort, also on the river, was built to counter the Magh and Portuguese pirates. There are several historical mosques along Shitalakshya's banks – Bandarshahi mosque (built in 1481 by Baba Saleh), Kadam Rasul mosque (containing the footprints of Muhammad), Mariamer masjid (built by Shaista Khan), etc.

Economic importance

The Shitalakshya River was once an important center for the muslin industry. Even today, there are centres of artistic weaving on its banks. There also are a number of industrial units on its banks, including the Adamjee Jute Mills. Thermal power houses are located along the river at Palash (north of Ghorashal) and at Siddhirganj.

Portion of a sari woven on the banks of Shitalakshya River

There is a river port in Narayanganj. Numerous launches move out along the river to different parts of Bangladesh. The government has approved construction of a container terminal on the Shitalakhya with foreign investment.

Industrial wastewater is dumped into the river untreated. This results in high levels of water pollution.

References

Md Mahbub Murshed. (2012). "Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh". [[Asiatic Society of Bangladesh]].
Majumdar, R. C.. (1971). "History of Ancient Bengal". G. Bhardwaj & Co..
Roy, Niharranjan, ''Bangalir Itihas, Adi Parba'', {{in lang. bn, first published 1972, reprint 2005, p. 86, Dey’s Publishing, 13 Bankim Chatterjee Street, Kolkata, {{ISBN. 81-7079-270-3
Khokon, Leaquat Hossain, ''64 Jela Bhraman'', 2007, pp.14-15, Anindya Prokash, Dhaka, {{ISBN. 984-8740-19-8
"Govt okays container terminal on Shitalakhya". The Independent.
"Risk and Water Quality Assessment overview of River Sitalakhya in Bangladesh". Technical College, Bourgas.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

rivers-of-bangladesh distributaries rivers-of-dhaka-division

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Shitalakshya River — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report