Feni River

Feni River, also known as Feni Nodi is Bengali, is an Indian river present in the state of Tripura which meets the south eastern border of Bangladesh. Due to this reason, the river is considered as the trans boundary river that has caused a dispute between the two countries. But a few days back, India and Bangladesh have finally decided to make a deal over waters of Feni, Teesta River.

Feni River has origin from the hill range of an Indian state having coordinates of 91°47'E and 23°20’N, passing through the south western boundary with Chittagong hill tracts, and then flows towards the west, dividing the borders of Chittagong and Tripura up-to Aliganj. The river then comes out from the hills and flows though a region where it separates Chittagong and Noakhali before combining with the Bay of Bengal at 91°27’E and 22°50’N. Actually, this river is the property of Bangladesh as it has been used for constructing demarcation lines among Tripura, Chittagong and Noakhali states. But after the year 1960, India has been utilizing the services of this river, declaring that this river belongs to them up-to its midstream.

The Feni River is 116 kilometers in length from its source to Bay of Bengal and 80.5 kilometers up-to Rangarh is passable with the help of small boats. During the monsoon season when there are heavy rains in the region, it does not lack the water quantity but when there is excessive rain the river becomes furious having whirling eddies and rapid currents at its sharp turns. Muhuri from the Noakhali District, which is also named as Little Feni, joins it close to its mouth but the river is not having important tributaries from Chittagong District. The Feni River is slowly damaging from its course because of the inappropriate removal of Timber trees from hill slopes and subsequent intense erosions of the hills.

Course

The origin of Feni River is from the southern Tripura District that passes through Sabroom town and finally it enters into a state of Bangladesh. Muhuri River, which is also known as little Feni, from the Noakhali District combines with it from the mouth. People can use small boats to travel on this river up to Ramgarh which is around 80 kilometers of distance.

Feni River has great agricultural importance for the people living in the towns near to this river. This river is also the source of their livelihood through which, they obtain a number of benefits like they water their crops with its water and also use the water for their regular use.

A bridge is also built over this River Feni that connects Tripura with it. The construction has been completed and a 150 meters bridge is now open for the residents to travel through it. This bridge connects the eastern states of India and some western states other than Assam.

Tributaries

Muhuri River

Muhuri is one of the trans-national rivers between Bangladesh and India. It originates from Tripura and passes through Bangladesh where it combines with Feni near to the region of the Bay of Bengal. The Muhuri River is also named as the Little Feni due to its big contribution in this river.

This river rises from the Lushai Hills of the Indian state Tripura and enters into the western part of Bangladesh where it enters into the Feni district through Parshuram Upazila. In this country, the Muhuri River divides Chittagong and Feni districts before exiting the Bay of Bengal.

Muhuri River has total basin coverage of 839 square kilometers in Tripura which means 8 percent of the state’s overall geographical area. In Bangladesh, the basin of Muhuri covers a region of around 40,080 hectares that spread across upazila of Chagalnaiya, Parshuram, Feni, Sadar and Sonagazi in the Feni district and Mirersarai Upaziala of the Chittagong District having an average area of 23,000 hectares. This river is also famous for its flash floods and wild nature and the regular changes in its course. As this river is close to the sea, it has great influence over tidal activities. The Muhuri River is shallow and passable by four ton boats for just half the year as in the remaining half year, it remains harsh.

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