Rivers of Panchagarh

Nagor
There are two rivers in the country named as Nagor. The first one originates from the karatoya near shibganj upazila in bogra district. It flows southwest and then turns south to meet the atrai river at singra upazila in natore district. The Nagor receives a tributary from the north which provide its major flow. The total length of the river is about 105 km. On its course, the river demarcates the boundaries between the upazilas of Dupchanchia-Kahaloo (Bogra district), Adamdighi-Nandigram (Bogra district) and RaniNagor (Naogaon district)-Nandigram (Bogra district).

The other Nagor river is a trans-boundary river that enters the country through Panchagarh district. Flowing southwest and then southward, the river again crosses the international boundary near haripur in the thakurgaon district. The river defines the boundary between India and Bangladesh in various places on its course. The length of the river in the Bangladesh part is about 125 km. The river causes flash floods at times but does little harm. It becomes dry in the lean period, but the local farmers dam the water of the wet season for irrigation.

Kototoya
Karatoya River an intriguing river, formerly the main channel of the tista, and perhaps a distributary of the brahmaputra. In the Siyar-al-Mutakhkhirin it is recorded that this river was three times the size of the ganges when bakhtiyar khalji invaded the Northern Region (1115 AD). Tectonic disturbances had broken it up into four distinct parts. The northern part, called the Dinajpur-Karatoya, is the main source of the atrai. It rises in a marsh in Baikanthapur in Jalpaiguri (India), but also receives water from underground streams. In khansama upazila its name changes to Atrai. The Dinajpur-Karatoya was connected with the Rangpur-Karatoya north of Khansama, but very little water now passes down that channel. The upper part of Rangpur-Karatoya originates in the Jalpaiguri district of India and is known as the Deonai-Jamuneshwari up to gobindaganj upazila.

The Jamuneshwari-Karatoya flows in slight meanders south-southeast to Gobindaganj upazila where the main stream turns east through the Katakhali and falls into the bangali. The portion of the former river passing through shibganj upazila is dry most of the year. It effectively separates the Rangpur-Karatoya from the Bogra-Karatoya. The latter river flows south past bogra town till it joins the Bangali to make Phuljhor river, which falls into the hurasagar. The maximum discharge of the Bogra-Karatoya is below 3,000 cusec and has declined rapidly since the construction of the Brahmaputra Right Embankment. The fourth part, the Pabna-Karatoya, is a moribund riverbed near Handial. Various other channels are also pointed out as parts of the Old Karatoya.

The ancient Karatoya must have been a large river. In Ven den Brouck's map of Bengal, prepared in 1660, it is shown as a large channel, and in the map of rennell, prepared in 1776, it is still a major river. As late as 1810, Buchanan-Hamilton writes of it as 'a very considerable river'. The decline however, came so rapidly after the 1820 flood that the old banks of the river are distinctly traceable. The river was formerly sacred to the Hindus, as the derivation of the name shows. Kar (hand) and Toa (water) signified that the river was formed by the water which was poured on the hands of Siva, when he married the mountain goddess Parvati.

The system formed by the rivers Karatoya, Atrai, Gur, Gumani and Hurasagar has a total length of about 597 km and is free from tidal influence.

Tangon
Tangon River also known as the Tongon River. The river was named after the name of Zamindar Tankonath of ranisankail upazila in thakurgaon district. It enters Bangladesh from the Indian state of West Bengal through the western border of panchagarh district (which lies in the northwestern corner of the country). It passes through Ruhia, pirganj and bochaganj. It again enters West Bengal through biral upazila of Dinajpur. It returns to Bangladesh when it meets with the punarbhaba near Rohanpur of naogaon district. It becomes dry during winter and navigable in the rainy season. In 1989, a five-vent barrage was built over this river 10 km west of boda. About 5,000 ha of land including 1,000 to 1,500 ha of wheat fields get gravity irrigation in the dry season. [Mesbah-us-Saleheen]

Tangon Barrage : Tangon Barrage Built on the tangon river, is 35.36m long and is fitted with five radial gates, each measuring 6m × 4.5m, having a total discharge capacity of 25.7 cumec. The pond level in the upstream reservoir is 63.99m above PWD datum. The purpose of the barrage is to supply irrigation water to about 4,450 ha of land in Thakurgaon sadar upazila. The construction of the barrage and irrigation canals with ancillary structures was started in 1983 and completed in 1990 at a cost of Tk 125 million with a foreign exchange component of Tk 3.57 million.