3muhammed4 at 08:54, 3 December 2025

2025-12-03T08:54:53Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2018}}
{{Infobox river
| name = Barak River
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| image_caption = Barak River winds through [[Silchar]] city
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| mapframe = yes
| mapframe-zoom = 7
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| subdivision_type1 = Countries
| subdivision_name1 = [[India]] and [[Bangladesh]]
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| length_km = 900
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| source1 = Liyai Khullen Village
| source1_location = Khongnem, India
| source1_coordinates = {{Coord|25.3661|94.0633|format=dms|type:river}}
| source1_elevation = {{Convert|987|m|ft|abbr=on}}
| mouth = [[Bay of Bengal]]
| mouth_location = Kandigram Chaita, India
| mouth_coordinates = {{Coord|24.8764|92.4896|format=dms|type:river|display=inline,title}}
| mouth_elevation = {{Convert|14|m|ft|abbr=on}}
| progression =
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| basin_size_km2 = 52000
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The '''Barak River''' or '''Barbakro '''or '''Agu''' is a [[trans-boundary river]] in [[India]] and [[Bangladesh]]. It flows {{convert|900|km}}<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://asmenvis.nic.in/Database/Rivers_1049.aspx|title=Rivers|website=asmenvis.nic.in|access-date=2019-08-25}}</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Surma-River|title=Surma River {{!}} river, Asia|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=2019-08-25}}</ref> through the states of [[Manipur]], [[Mizoram]] and [[Assam]] in India. It flows into Bangladesh where it bifurcates into the [[Surma River]] and the [[Kushiyara River]] which converge again to become the [[Meghna River]] before forming the [[Ganges Delta]]. Of its total length, {{cvt|524|km}} is in India, {{cvt|31|km}} in Bangladesh. The upper part of its navigable part is in India — {{cvt|121|km}} between [[Lakhipur]] and Bhanga, declared as [[National Waterway 16|National Waterway 16, (NW-16)]] since the year 2016.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/rajya-sabha-passes-bill-to-declare-assam-river-as-national-waterway/articleshow/21821926.cms|title=Rajya Sabha passes Bill to declare Assam river as National Waterway|date=2013-08-14|work=The Economic Times|access-date=2019-08-25}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://iwai.npglobal.in/waterways/national-waterways/national-waterways-16|title=National Waterways 16 {{!}} Inland Waterways Authority of India, Government of India|website=iwai.npglobal.in|access-date=2019-08-25|archive-date=25 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190825135624/http://iwai.npglobal.in/waterways/national-waterways/national-waterways-16|url-status=dead}}</ref> It drains a [[drainage basin|basin]] of {{convert|52000|km2|abbr=on}},<ref name=":0" /> of which {{convert|41723|km2|abbr=on}} lies in India, 1.38% (rounded) of the country.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://waterresources.assam.gov.in/portlet-innerpage/barak-river-system|title=Barak River System {{!}} Water Resources {{!}} Government Of Assam, India|website=waterresources.assam.gov.in|access-date=2019-08-25}}</ref> The water and banks host or are visited by a wide variety of flora and fauna.

The principal [[tributaries]] are all in India: the [[Irang River|Irang]], [[Tuivai River|Tuivai]], [[River Sonai|Sonai (or Tuirial)]], the [[Jiri River|Jiri]], the Tlawng (or Dhaleswari, or Katakal), the [[Jatinga River|Jatinga]], the Longai and the Madhura.

[[Tipaimukh Dam]] is a proposed dam on the river itself.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gktoday.in/gk/the-controversy-of-tipaimukh-dam/|title=Tipaimukh Dam Controversy|website=GKToday|language=en-US|access-date=2019-12-20}}</ref>

==Course==
[[File:Barak in Lakhipur.jpeg|thumb|Barak River in Lakhipur, Assam]]
From its source at Liyai Kullen Village{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}} in the [[Senapati]] district of Manipur, where most people are of the [[Poumai Naga people|Poumai Naga]] tribe, the river is known as '''Vourei'''. Near its source, the river receives streams such as the Vehrei originating from Phuba Village, the Gumti, Howrah, Kagni, Senai Buri, Hari Mangal, Kakrai, Kurulia, Balujhuri, Shonaichhari and Durduria.

It flows southwest in [[Manipur]], until [[Tipaimukh]], where it makes an almost 180-degree U-turn. Then it flows north until [[Jirimukh]], and turns west flowing into the [[Cachar district]] of Assam. It enters Bangladesh at [[Bhanga Bazar]].

==Main tributaries==
The local rainfall run off of the [[Barak Valley|valley]] along with that of adjacent hilly areas flows through river Barak and its various tributaries and is drained out to Bangladesh. The Katakhal(Dhaleshwari), [[Jiri River|Jiri]], [[Chiri River|Chiri]], Modhura, [[Longai River|Longai]], Sonai, Rukni and Singla are the main tributaries of the valley. The tributaries are mainly rain-fed and cause flood problems when precipitation occurs. The Barak sub-basin drains areas in India, Bangladesh and Burma. The drainage area lying in India is 41723 km<sup>2</sup> which is nearly 1.38% of the total geographical area of the country. It is on the north by the [[Barail Range]] separating it from the [[Brahmaputra]] sub-basin, on the east by the Na Lushai hills and on the south and west by [[Bangladesh]]. The sub-basin lies in the States of [[Meghalaya]], [[Manipur]], [[Mizoram]], [[Assam]], [[Tripura]] and [[Nagaland]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://waterresources.assam.gov.in/portlet-innerpage/barak-river-system|title=Barak River System|publisher=Water Resources Department, Govt. of Assam}}</ref>

In Manipur, in its flow south-west to Tipaimukh, it is joined by the Tuivai, and then flows northward to Jirimukh where it is joined by the Jiri river from the north. From here the flow is westward into [[Cachar]], then [[Karimganj]] District of Assam, then to Sylhet in Bangladesh having a co-distributary the [[Surma River]], the other later becoming the [[Meghna]] before the [[Ganga]]-[[Brahmaputra]] delta. The [[Padma River|Padma]] joins it to become the Meghna.

== Wildlife ==
The Barak is among the richest rivers in the world as to aquatic biodiversity, as it contains more than 2,000 species of fish. Other creatures include River Barak or [[Siamese crocodile]] (a rare and endangered crocodilian), the [[susu dolphin]], [[smooth-coated otter]] and [[Mugger crocodile|black mugger crocodile]]. From its origin to its bifurcation at the border of Nagaland producing the [[Surma River]] the Barak is {{convert|564|km}} long.<ref name="WRIS">{{cite web|title=Barak and others|url=http://www.india-wris.nrsc.gov.in/wrpinfo/index.php?title=Barak_and_others|website=nrsc.gov.in|publisher=Water Resources Information System of India|language=en|date=27 October 2015|access-date=11 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404054004/http://www.india-wris.nrsc.gov.in/wrpinfo/index.php?title=Barak_and_others|archive-date=4 April 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref> The entire stretch of the river has various biomes that are extremely rich in wildlife, including:
#[[Várzea forest|Varzea forest]] (flooded rainforest)
#Los llamjao ([[Flooded grasslands and savannas|flooded grassland and Savannah]])
#Tidal forest ([[mangrove]]s in vast Delta Avourei)
#Flora or vegetation of the Pats (flat-topped table mountains in India and western Cambodia)
#Very large [[Tropics|tropical]] [[swamp]]s.

== Environmental concerns ==
Environmentalists have expressed concern over the way aquatic creatures and their habitats are being destroyed in the upper reaches of river in southern Assam. Prominent nature conservation NGO Society for Activists for Forest and Environment (SAFE) has pointed out that the tribals living on both banks of Barak have developed the harmful practice of blasting small gelatin sticks smuggled from Mizoram to kill fish. In the process, thousands of fish, young and mature, along with turtles, dolphins and other aquatic life organisms are killed.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/environment/pollution/Concern-over-destruction-of-aquatic-creatures-in-river-Barak-in-Assam/articleshow/18315239.cms|title=Concern over destruction of aquatic creatures in river Barak in Assam|date=2013-02-03|work=The Economic Times|access-date=2019-08-25}}</ref>

The [[South Asian river dolphin|Ganges river dolphin]] is endangered. The proposed [[Tipaimukh Dam]] on the river in northeast India – a political controversy between India and Bangladesh – could hasten its extinction, researchers warn.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |url=https://thewire.in/environment/ganges-river-dolphin-barak-river-assam-endgame|title=Is the Endgame Inevitable for the Ganges River Dolphin in Assam's Barak River?|work=The Wire|access-date=2019-08-25}}</ref> Making a plea for conservation, researchers from Assam state in a study that the dolphin, India's national aquatic animal is heading towards “local extinction” in the river system of the state. “Factors like [[poaching]] (for oil and meat) and accidental mortalities in fishing gear, gradual habitat degradation by sluice gates, embankments, disturbances like motorboats and aquatic pollution have resulted in the extirpation of the resident dolphin population from the Barak river system of Assam,” M.K. Mazumder, corresponding author of the study, wrote.<ref name=":1" />

==See also==
{{Portal|Environment|Ecology}}
* [[List of rivers of India]]
* [[List of rivers of Bangladesh]]
* [[Jiri-Makru Wildlife Sanctuary]], a wildlife sanctuary on the river bank

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{cite web |url=http://nihroorkee.gov.in/rbis/basin%20maps/barak_about.htm |title=Barak Basin |website=National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee, India |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170515125409/http://nihroorkee.gov.in/rbis/basin%20maps/barak_about.htm |archive-date=15 May 2017}}

{{Rivers in and around Bengal}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Rivers of Assam]]
[[Category:Rivers of Manipur]]
[[Category:Rivers of Mizoram]]
[[Category:Rivers of Bangladesh]]
[[Category:Bangladesh–India border]]
[[Category:Cachar district]]
[[Category:Hailakandi district]]
[[Category:Karimganj district]]
[[Category:International rivers of Asia]]
[[Category:Border rivers]]

Barak River - Revision history

3muhammed4 at 08:54, 3 December 2025