GOMOTI RIVER AT COMILLA

Gomoti River at Comilla

Gomoti river at Comilla

Gomti River coming from Domur in the north eastern hilly region of Tripora state of India. From its source it flows about 155 km along a meandering course through the hills, turns west and enters Bangladesh near Catak Bazar (Comilla Sadar). Then it takes a meandering course again and passes through the north side of Comilla town and east of mainamati. On the north Burichang upazila, it cuts through Debidwar upazila and reaches Companiganj Bazar. The distance from Companiganj Bazar to Mainamati is about 63 km. From Companiganj it turns west and finally falls into the meghna at Shapta in Daudkandi upazila. The segment between Daudkandi and Companiganj is about 51 km long. The Gomti is about 137 km long within Bangladesh. The dakatia is one of the important tributaries of the Gomti and the Buri river is its distributary.

16th century bridge over river Gomti in Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh, India

The Gumti is a hilly river having a strong current. Its flow varies from 150 to 25,000 cusec at Comilla. During the rains its average breadth is about 150m, 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 normaly rainfall the river rises to above 1.7m 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 (BWDB) has taken several measures to tame the river and save Comilla   main town. Attempts have been made to construct flood embankments and 20 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 Gomti appears now to be under control.

bridge over Gomti river, Jaunpur.

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