Halda River

Halda River rises from the Badnatali Hill Ranges in the chittagong hill tracts and enters chittagong district through fatikchhari upazila. Then it flows southwest keeping off the higher regions to the north and then due south past Bibirhat, Nazirhat, Sattarghat and other important places of Fatikchhari, hathazari, raozan and kotwali of Chittagong which form its basin. It falls into the karnafuli at Kalurghat. Its total length is about 81 km, of which 29 km up to Nazirhat are navigable by big boats throughout the year; small country boats can ply further up for 16 to 24 km to Narayanhat. Forest resources like timber, bamboo, sungrass from the southern parts of ramgarh upazila are floated down the river and the bulk of merchandise from Chittagong town is carried up in big cargo boats.

The Halda has a very turbulent tributary, the Dhurung river which rises in the Pakshmimura ranges in the Hill Tracts, traverses the whole of Fatikchhari upazila running almost parallel to Halda in the east, and joins it at Purba Dhalai about 48.25 km downstream. During the past century the Dhurung carved out for itself several courses. Several attempts were made to confine its current to its original bed but none proved a success. It now joins the Halda to the southwest of the Fatikchhari upazila headquarters leaving its original course of about 24.14 km to decay. The Halda also has several hill streams flowing down into it from the Chittagong Hill Tracts to its east watering and irrigating the entire Halda basin up to Kalurghat where it falls into the Karnafuli River. [Sifatul Quader Chowdhury]

See map in chittagong region river system.