Bay of Bengal - Rivers

Rivers

Many major rivers of the Indian subcontinent flow west to east before draining into Bay of Bengal. The Ganges is the northernmost of them. Its main channel enters and flows through Bangladesh, where it is called Padma River, before joining Meghna River. However, Brahmaputra River flows from east to west in Assam before turning south and entering Bangladesh where it is called Jamuna River. Jamuna joins Padma and then Padma joins Meghna River that finally drains into Bay of Bengal. The Sundarbans mangrove forest is formed at the delta of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers and lies partly in West Bengal and partly in Bangladesh. Brahmaputra at 2,948 km (1,832 mi) is the 28th longest River in the world. It originates in Tibet. Hooghly River, another channel of the Ganga that flows through Calcutta drains into Bay of Bengal in India itself.

Further south of Bengal, Mahanadi River, Godavari River, Krishna River and Kaveri River (earlier spelt as Cauvery) are the major rivers that flow from west to east in Indian subcontinent and drain into Bay of Bengal. Many small rivers also drain directly into Bay of Bengal; the shortest of them is Cooum River at 64 km (40 mi).

The Irrawaddy River also spelt as Ayeyarwady of Burma flows into Andaman Sea of Bay of Bengal and once had thick mangrove forest of its own.