Katakhal River

The Katakhal River which flows through Assam, Guwahati and Tripura is a right bank tributary of the Rover Haora. Initially it used to flow through the northern part of the city of Agartala and join river Haora in Bangladesh. However it is no longer a tributary of River Haora and is detached from it. It joins River Titas instead. It has been found that Katakhal River has changed its course due to some microscale tectonic activity which is the upliftment of interfluvial zone. The word Katakhal originates from two words, kata and khal. Kata means artificially cut and khal means canal. History has it that it was dug during the first half of the twentieth century. The canal was cut from River Haora mainly to drain out the excess water during the monsoons just to save Agartala from being flooded. The majority of the population in Agartala depends on River Katakhal for drinking water. Previously it was said that there was a connection between Katakhal and Deotachara , which is a tributary of Haora near Reshambagan but now it has been proved that Deotachara and Katakhal have their own separate path of flowing. As a result of detachment of River Katakhal from Haora River, the basin area of the river has come down from 457.965 km square to 405.8 km square.

From the ‘Tuikhur’ ( Natural Water Point) of Zobawk (near Lunglei in Mizoram) the river Tlwang originated and flows in north direction to enter in Assam near Bhairabi. From that point the river is known as Dholeswari. The British diverted the flow of the river at village Ganjakhauri  by digging a canal. This is the reason why the down stream river is named as Katakhal which ultimately plunged into River Barak at Katakhal Bazar. It will be interesting to know that the ashes of legendary singer got immersed in Barak and Katakhal Rivers in Barak Valley.

The N.F. Railways constructed a broad gauge Railway Bridge across Katakhal River. The Katakhal bridge connects Shillong to Silchar in Assam , Aizwal in Mizoram and Agartala in Tripura. Katakhal River is a perennial river.

Airports Close to Katakhal

There are a few airports that are close to Katakhal. They are Silchar, Bangladesh. Aizawl and Gwahati International Airport. There are also a couple of railway stations that will help one reach Katakhal river.

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