The Karnaphuli River ( ''Kôrnophuli''; also spelt Karnafuli and Khawthlangtuipui in Mizo, meaning "western river" and Borgang in Chakma, meaning "Big River") is the largest and most important river in

Chittagong Chittagong ( ), officially Chattogram, (, ) (, or ) is the second-largest city in Bangladesh. Home to the Port of Chittagong, it is the busiest port in Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. The city is also the business capital of Bangladesh. It ...

and the

Chittagong Hill Tracts The Chittagong Hill Tracts (), often shortened to simply the Hill Tracts and abbreviated to CHT, refers to the three hilly districts within the Chittagong Division in southeastern Bangladesh, bordering India and Myanmar (Burma) in the east: Kh ...

. It is a wide river in the south-eastern part of

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

. Originating from the Saithah village of

Mamit district Mamit district is one of the eleven districts of Mizoram state in India. Geography The district is bounded on the north by Hailakandi district of Assam state, on the west by North Tripura district of Tripura state and Bangladesh, on the south b ...

in Mizoram, India, it flows southwest through Chattogram Hill Tracts and Chattogram into 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 ...

. It is the fastest flowing river in Bangladesh, after the Padma. It is said to "represent the drainage system of the whole south-western part of Mizoram." Principal tributaries include the Kawrpui River or Thega River, Tuichawng River and Phairuang River. A large

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

power plant was built on the Karnaphuli in the Kaptai region in the 1960s. The mouth of the river hosts the Port of Chattogram, the largest and busiest seaport of Bangladesh.

Etymology

The presence of Arab traders and merchants in the history of Chittagong led to many areas in Chittagong to have names of

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

origin. The name of this river is thought to have come from ''qarnaful'', the Arabic word for

clove Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, ''Syzygium aromaticum'' (). They are native to the Maluku Islands, or Moluccas, in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice, flavoring, or Aroma compound, fragrance in fin ...

, and refers to an incident in which an Arab ship full of cloves sank in this river.

Course

Chittagong City

Chittagong is situated on the banks of the Karnaphuli River between the

and the

. The city is a noteworthy seaside seaport city and monetary focus in southeastern Bangladesh. The Chittagong Metropolitan Area has a populace of more than 8.9 million, making it the second biggest city in Bangladesh. It is the capital of an eponymous locale and division. A water treatment plant has been set up by Chittagong Port Authority to source water from the Karnaphuli river for its uses. The plant will make the port self-reliant in its water needs.

Tlabung

Tlabung is situated on the banks of the Karnaphuli River in Lunglei district, Mizoram. Karnaphuli River links Mizoram with the port cit of

on the shores of

. British Troops and missionaries used this route to reach Mizoram during the Colonial days. It used to take 5 days to reach from Chittagong to Tlabung on a motorboat, a distance of about 90 kilometers, after which they would travel another 35 kilometers to reach Lunglei.

Transport

The government had awarded a contract to build a two lane Karnaphuli tunnel underneath the Karnaphuli river to China Communication Construction Company (CCCC). This is the first underwater tunnel in Bangladesh. CCCC received $706 million for its services, with total costs expected to be over $1 billion.

Kaptai dam

The Kaptai Dam is the location of the Karnafuli Hydroelectric Power Station, constructed in Kaptai in 1962 and the only

power plant in the country. An earth-filled dam on the Karnaphuli River, the Kaptai Dam, created the Kaptai Lake, which acts as the water reservoir for the hydropower station. The power plant produces a total of 230 megawatts of electricity. When then east Pakistan built the dam, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru didn't object even though it resulted in part of Indian side getting submerged and inflow of more than 40000 refugees.

Pollution

Like many rivers in Bangladesh, Karnaphuli is heavily polluted by agricultural runoff. Reducing the amount of oxygen available and harming aquatic life in the river. In 2015, a train carrying oil crashed over a tributary of the river. The spill caused

environmental degradation Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, referring respectively to all living and non-living things occurring naturally and the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism ...

Aquatic life

The river is home to the

Ganges river dolphin The Ganges river dolphin (''Platanista gangetica'') is a species of freshwater dolphin classified in the family Platanistidae. It lives in the Ganges and related rivers of South Asia, namely in the countries of India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. It ...

, which is an endangered species. Hilsa used to be common in the river, but have nearly disappeared from the river due to pollution.

Gallery

File:Boat in Karnafuli.jpg, alt=, View from the middle of the Karnafuli File:Karnaphuli nodi (2586368687).jpg, View of the river File:Ships at Karnaphuli River (1).jpg, Ships at Karnaphuli River File:Karnaphuli River at night (01).jpg,

Port of Chittagong A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manche ...

and Karnaphuli River at night File:Tourist enjoying scenery of Karnafuli River.jpg, Tourist at Karnafuli River Cruise

References

{{coord, 22, 13, N, 91, 48, E, display=title, region:BD_type:river_source:GNS-enwiki Rivers of Bangladesh Rivers of Mizoram Rivers of Chittagong Division International rivers of Asia