MEGHNA RIVER

major watercourse of the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta, in Bangladesh. The name is properly applied to a channel of the Old Brahmaputra downstream from Bhairab Bazar, after it has received the Surma (Barak) River. Flowing almost due south, the Meghna receives the combined waters of the Padma (Ganges) and Jamuna (Brahmaputra) rivers near Chandpur. After a course of about 164 miles (264 km) it enters the Bay of Bengal by four principal mouthsthe Tetulia, Shahbazpur, Hatia, and Bamni. Major tributaries are the Dhaleswari, Gumti, and Fenny. A river of great depth and velocity, the Meghna is sometimes split up into several channels and sandbanks of its own formation. It is navigable, but dangerous, all year. At spring tide the sea rushes upriver in a single 20-foot (6-metre) wave.