Gumti River

Gumti River originates from Dumur in the northeastern hilly region of Tripura state of India. From its source it flows about 150 km along a meandering course through the hills, turns west and enters Bangladesh near Katak Bazar (Comilla Sadar). Then it takes a meandering course again and passes through the northern side of Comilla town and east of mainamati. Keeping Burichang upazila on the north, it cuts through Debidwar upazila and reaches Companiganj Bazar. The distance from Mainamati to Companiganj Bazar is about 60 km. From Companiganj it turns west and finally falls into the meghna at Shapta in Daudkandi upazila. The segment between Companiganj and Daudkandi is about 50 km long. The Gumti is about 135 km long within Bangladesh. The dakatia is one of the important tributaries of the Gumti and the Buri river is its distributary.

The Gumti is a hilly river having a strong current. Its flow varies from 100 to 20,000 cusec at Comilla. During the rains its average breadth is about 100m, it is full from bank to bank and the current is rapid. But during the winter it shrinks and becomes fordable at most places. In a year of normal rainfall the river rises to above 1.5m than the level of the surrounding areas. Flash floods are common phenomena of this river and it occurs at regular intervals. Previously it was known as the 'sorrow of Comilla town'. The bangladesh water development board (BWDB) has taken several measures to tame the river and save Comilla town. Attempts have been made to construct flood embankments and 19 loop-cuts have been made to straighter the river. Despite these measures, several times Comilla town had been seriously menaced by floods. However, after the implementation of a number of BWDB projects, the Gumti appears now to be under control.

The river is not navigable by large boats. Some important places on its banks are Comilla, Mainamati, Burichang, Companiganj, Muradnagar and Daudkandi. The Gumti is influenced by tides up to Daudkandi, but upstream it is free from tidal effects. [Masud Hasan Chowdhury]

See also ganges-padma river system.

See map in ganges-padma river system.