Feni River

Feni River (Bengali: ফেনী নদী Feni Nodi) is a river in the Indian state of Tripura and southeastern Bangladesh. It is a trans-boundary river with an ongoing dispute about water rights. The Feni River originates in South Tripura district and flows through Sabroom town and then enters Bangladesh. Muhuri River, also called Little Feni, from Noakhali District joins it near its mouth. The river is navigable by small boats as far as Ramgarh, about 80 kilometres (50 mi) upstream.

The question of sharing of the waters of the river between India and Pakistan was first discussed in 1958. Through at least 2006 the countries continued to consider possible compromises.

Course

Feni River originates in South Tripura district and flows through Sabroom town and then enters Bangladesh.^[2] Muhuri River, also called Little Feni, from Noakhali District joins it near its mouth. The river is navigable throughout the year by small boats up to Ramgarh, some 80 kilometres (50 mi) upstream.^[1]

Dispute

The question of sharing of the waters of the river between India and Pakistan was discussed as early as 1958.^[3]

Reports from Pakistan in 2007 said, "India is trying to withdraw water from Feni River for irrigation projects in exchange of resolving erosion problem in Bangladesh side of this bordering river."^[4]

According to statement on sharing of river waters with Bangladesh, released by India in 2007, "Feni River has been added to its mandate in the 36th JRC meeting. A decision was taken in the meeting that the Ministers of Water Resources of both the countries would visit the sites where developmental works have been held up. This Joint Inspection of various locations of developmental and flood protection works on common rivers was held from September 14–21, 2006."^[5]

Inland port in Tripura

Sabroom in South Tripura, in India, is only 18 to 20 kilometres (11 to 12 mi) from the Bay of Bengal, but it is a virtually a landlocked territory. In 2007, there was a thinking that an inland harbour could be built at Sabroom, connected to the sea through a canal, if Bangladesh allowed it. The construction of such a harbour could reduce considerably the cost of transportation of goods from the rest of India to Tripura and the north-east of India. However, the idea had not been acted on through 2007.^[2]

Bridge

A bridge is to be built over the Feni River to link up with Tripura. Construction was set to begin in December 2010 for the 150-metre (490 ft) link between Sabroom and Ramgarh.^[6] When completed, the bridge would provide the only land link between India's eastern states and its western states other than through Assam. As of October 2014, construction had not begun, but the government of India had asked a New Delhi company to prepare a detailed project report for work on the bridge.^[7]

References

Coordinates: 22°46′N 91°26′E / 22.767°N 91.433°E / 22.767; 91.433