Geoenvironmental
significance of Barak river system in the Barak- Ganga-Brahmaputra Linkage
Verma Rahul, Blick John and Malsawmtluanga
Disaster Advances; Vol. 18(9); 111-122;
doi: https://doi.org/10.25303/189da1110122; (2025)
Abstract
The northeastern regions of India, especially southern Assam, Manipur and Mizoram,
have always been difficult to access due to its rugged and hilly terrain. Inland
waterway transport is the need of the time. In this context, the role of Barak River
becomes very important for the connectivity amongst Mizoram, Manipur, southern Assam
and Tripura. The present work covers the total journey of Barak River from its origin
in Manipur to the merger into the Bay of Bengal. Barak river not only forms the
lifeline of southern Assam valley but also of the Sylhet Plains of Bangladesh. Barak
reaches the Bay of Bengal after receiving a lot of rivers from Mizoram, Meghalaya
and Tripura. Enroute its journey, it gets several names as Kushiara, Kalni and finally
Meghna.
The geoenvironmental significance is amazing in the light of the fact that the well-known
mighty rivers Ganga and Brahmaputra ultimately merge into Barak known as Meghna
in Bangladesh and the final delta made by the combined flow of Ganga, Brahmaputra
and Barak is actually the Meghna delta. Significantly, Barak River’s stretch of
121 kms. between Lakhipur and Bhanga has been declared as the National Waterway-6
(NW-6) by the Act of Parliament in 2016.
