The Barind Tract

The Barind Tract is the largest Pleistocene geospatial unit in the Bengal Basin. The Barind covers an area of ​​about 6,60 sq km. This terrain, separated from the surrounding floodplain, has long been recognized as a landform formed of old sediments. The geographical position of the Barind region extends from 24 ° 206 north latitude to 25 ° 357 north latitude and from 8 ° 206 east longitude to 89 ° 306 east longitude. This geological unit is bounded on the east by the Karatoya river, on the west by the Mahananda river, and on the south by the north bank of the Ganges. The location of a fault at the eastern end of the Barind is obvious and the small rivers Jamuna, Atrai and Punarbhaba are flowing along the fault. The western part of this geo-natural unit is inclined and the western part is more than 15 m above the remaining land and the surrounding Mahananda floodplain. The Barind lands cover the greater Dinajpur, Rangpur, Pabna, Rajshahi and Bogra districts.

There are several myths behind the naming of Barind land. The word ‘bridegroom’ means blessing and the word ‘Indra’ means king of the gods. That is, the word Barindra originates from Indra's groom or Indra's blessing. Followers of this story believe that the Barind land is a blessing from Indra. In the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, the land of Barind has been called 'Pundra'. There is also a myth behind naming Pundra. According to the Mahabharata, one of the five children of Baliraja was named Pundra and the land was named after him. According to the inscriptions from 213 to 232 BC, during the reign of Emperor Ashoka, the Barind land was named after its original inhabitants, the most famous of which was Paringdagan. Over time, Paringdagan changed its name to 'Barinda' and so did the name of the land.

The location of the Barind is in the tropical season. Cancer is located south of this land. The climate in this region is generally warm and humid. Based on rainfall, humidity, temperature and air pressure, the meteorological conditions of the Barind region are divided into four types: (1) pre-monsoon, (2) monsoon, (3) monsoon north and (4) winter. Rainfall is relatively low in this region and the average annual rainfall is about 1,981 mm. Rainfall occurs mainly during the monsoon season. Again, the amount of rainfall varies from place to place and from year to year. For example, according to the 1971 record, the average annual rainfall in the Barind region was about 1,736 mm, but in 1992 it stood at about 698 mm. This area has already been identified as a drought prone area. The average summer temperature in the Barind region fluctuates from 25 C to 35 ° C and the average winter temperature fluctuates from 9 ° C to 15 C. In other words, extreme temperatures in summer and extreme cold in winter are some of the features of the weather in the Barind region. On some summer days, the temperature in Rajshahi region rises to 45 ° C, even higher in Lalpur upazila of Natore district. In winter, the temperature drops to around 5 ° C in some parts of Dinajpur and Rangpur districts. Thus the extreme climate is being observed in this geophysical unit consisting of older sediments which are clearly distinct from the climate of other parts of the country.

From the geological point of view, the Barind land is divided into three units. The sections are the recent Polish Fan, the Barind Pleistocene Square and the New Flood. These geostationary units are separated by long and slender geophysical strips consisting of fresh sediments. The Mahananda floodplain is bounded by these geological units at the western end and the Karatoya river at the eastern end. The tributaries of the Punarbhaba, Atrai and Old Jamuna rivers flowing through the foothills of the Himalayas cut the Pleistocene landmass into multiple parts, as well as the floodplains created by the river triad separated into three single units. The three rivers mentioned above have formed wide foothills alluvially marking the northern boundary of the Barind. The Teesta Polish fan is located north of this area. This land surface of the Himalayan foothills has a slope of about 0.43 m per km, which partially covers the Barind. This part is a flat or somewhat domed surface. To the south of the Barind is the land of the modern geological age with a slope of 0.08 m per km south-facing.

Three obvious drainage systems were observed in the Barind area. In the north there are a large number of small braid-shaped streams, which form a wide foothill polygate plain along the foothills of the Himalayas. The main rivers in the foothills are the Atrai and the Punarbhava. The Pleistocene flows through the geospatial unit to many small meandering riverbeds, which form tributary drainage systems and fall into the major rivers flowing north-south through the Barind. How many major river valleys has the Pleistocene geospatial unit divided into a few units extending north-south? The rivers Mahananda in the west, Karatoya in the east and Atrai and Punarbhaba in the middle of these two rivers flow through these valleys. The largest geological unit is surrounded by the Punarbhaba and Atrai rivers. Another is a large single Karatoya and surrounded by a small river Jamuna. Many small river streams, most of which have formed tree-like drainage systems, are flowing through various Barind geo-natural units. It is noteworthy, however, that the flow of the Karatoya River is being controlled by a fault in a south-easterly direction. In the seventeenth century, the Teesta was the main river in the region, splitting into several tributaries near Jalpaiguri. The Dhepa-Punarbhaba flowed in the west, the Atrai in the south and the small Jamuna in the south-east. All the above rivers used to flow into the Ganges. By the end of the seventeenth century, the Atrai River had become a major river, and Punarbhava was the second major stream. At present the rivers Teesta, Karatoya and Atrai are flowing into the river Jamuna. These rivers, especially the Teesta, changed their course as a result of the flash floods of 18 AD. According to geologists, this change is due to the renewal of the eruption process and the process of tilting the Barind surface. In recent times, the Punarbhaba, Atrai and small Jamuna carry some of the flood waters, but generally they carry the local flows of the Barind region, which is the main rising river.

The main Pleistocene plateau of the country is composed of Pleistocene sediments of the Barind land called the Old Sediment. Geographically, the region is located on the pre-Cambrian Indian platform, mostly in the Saddle and Sopan areas of Burma. This platform area is mostly covered by tertiary and quaternary sediments and recent sediments.

The Barind is relatively higher than the surrounding floodplain. The elevation line of this area indicates two squares - one floor is 40 meters high and the other is between 19.7 and 22.9 meters. As a result, the Barind is flood-free when other floodplains are inundated with seasonal flood waters and a few small streams are drained. About 48 per cent of the Barind region is classified as highlands, about 41 per cent as medium highlands and the rest as lowlands. About 80 per cent of the sloping terrain of the Barind is generally covered by agriculture. As this area is free from normal flooding, rain water is the only source of groundwater recharge. At one time there were many small isolated degraded lands but in recent times they have become agricultural lands. These changes to the land system have hampered groundwater renewal as well as increased dependence on rainwater. The climate of the region has been greatly affected as a result of changes in the course of the Teesta and Atrai rivers and their tributaries over the last two centuries. Geophysical transformation has gradually turned this area into a warmer area.

Madhupur (Barind) Barind land is located on the Pleistocene sedimentary base known as silt. This clay is reddish brown in color, oxidized, sticky and somewhat firm. According to eminent geologists Morgan and McIntyre, the sediments of the Barind are the source of rivers. In fact, all of these sediments accumulate at the end of the last ice age in the late Pleistocene epoch. The last ice age reached its peak of activity about 16,000 years ago today. At that time the sea level drops to 100 to 130 meters above the current limit. Then the icy water flows into the Bay of Bengal. At the same time, the northeast monsoon climate conditions prevailed in the subcontinent. Rainfall was still not predominant in the plains of Bengal. The rivers of this land used to flow only in their narrow and cut areas with ice water. Later, 12,000 years ago today, southwest monsoon winds began to dominate the region and cause heavy rainfall over the Bengal Basin. The narrow riverbeds of the region are unable to carry the icy water coming down from the Himalayas and the huge amount of water created by heavy rainfall. As a result, rivers overflowed and began to accumulate silt in the greater Bengal plain. A large amount of water flows over the Bengal plain and carries the accumulated sediment to the areas where silt predominates in the south, such as Barind, Madhupur Garh and Lalmai. Later, the climatic conditions gradually became warmer and warmer, which accelerated the flow of the rivers of Bengal. Sea levels begin to rise again and more sediment accumulates in degraded lands. But these Holocene (recent period) sediments failed to cover the Madhupur sediment above its limits.

Explaining the background of the rise of the Pleistocene plateaus, another group of geologists thinks that their rise was the result of tectonic and geological disturbances. According to them, Pleistocene sediments accumulate in large slopes of Barind and Madhupur regions. Neotectonic agitation after the accumulation process results in the emergence of these regions and the formation of elevated terraces.

The Barind region is rich in mineral resources as it is located on the pre-Cambrian Indian platform of the Bengal Basin. Mineral resources include coal, peat, hard rock, limestone, porcelain and glass sand. All these mineral deposits are present in the platform area below the Pleistocene rock-unit of the Barind. High quality bituminous coal deposits have been discovered in Bogra, Rajshahi and Dinajpur districts. The coal was found in a small isolated basin known as the Grost Valley at the pre-Cambrian basin below the Pleistocene sediment of the Barind. This coal belongs to the Gondwana strata of the Permian period and is of excellent quality. Limestone has been found in the terrace area of ​​the platform below the Pleistocene rock-unit in the southern part of the Barind. This Eocene-era limestone is one of the most important raw materials in the cement industry. Solid rock is another valuable mineral resource of the Barind region. Virtually the entire platform area is composed of pre-Cambrian volcanic and metamorphic rocks. This solid rock is an essential building material in various important constructions including roads and bridges. Porcelain and glass sand are found in the upper part of the foundation rock just below the Barind rock unit. Porcelain and glass sand are widely used in the manufacture of ceramics, electrical materials and various other industrial products.

Rapid population growth and simultaneous landforms are deteriorating the environment of the Barind region. The current climatic conditions in the region are by no means favorable. The rainfall is very light and the weather is hot during the day but it gets colder at the end of the night. Due to rainfall being the main source of groundwater recharge in the Barind region, climate change i.e. depletion of rainfall and desertification process has adversely affected the groundwater recharge process in the area. Due to low regeneration rate, the ground water level in the Barind area is very deep. In addition to the low groundwater level, another significant change in the region is the declining forest cover. According to some reports from the British colonial period, about 42% of the Barind area was covered by forests in the early nineteenth century. According to the land survey statistics of 1849, forest cover was spread over about 55% of the land of Barind. But in 1974, it was seen that about 80 per cent of the Barind land had been converted into agricultural land.

As a result of massive deforestation, the Barind has become an arid land. In addition, the extremely dry nature of the area and the relatively low rainfall have resulted in a significant reduction in plant cover. Due to all these features, Barind land can be easily identified as a warm and dry land in satellite imagery. However, it is also true that the area is being considered as a low potential area for groundwater development and agriculture. The area has to depend on seasonal rainfall for water. Due to all these obstacles, it is not possible to grow more than one crop in the Barind region, which has made the area a food deficient area. To address this problem in the Barind region, local engineers have taken the initiative to explore new sources of groundwater and to locate several high quality groundwater reservoirs, which can be used for large scale irrigation.

In the mid-1970s, an integrated development project called Barind Integrated Area Development Project was undertaken to develop irrigation facilities using groundwater in the Barind area. Under this project, more than three thousand deep tube wells were installed in the Barind area for irrigation purposes to provide agricultural facilities during the dry season. As a result of this initiative, agricultural production in the area has increased and the area has become a food surplus area. In addition to providing agricultural facilities, tree planting and digging of ponds and canals have been undertaken under this project to prevent environmental degradation in the Barind region. Initially, the initiators of the project initiated a massive awareness campaign among environmentalists for the sustainable development of groundwater resources. The Barind Integrated Area Development Project conducted for fifteen years was able to achieve success. In addition to providing irrigation facilities, various related development schemes adopted by the project have made a positive contribution to the socio-economic development of the area. It has become possible to prevent environmental degradation as well as to reduce the temperature during the dry season, increase the amount of rainfall and create more plant cover. In the first half of 1990, the project was renamed as Barind Multipurpose Development Authority. More than five thousand tube wells are currently extracting groundwater under the project. As well as the benefits, there are also potential for adverse reactions. Currently, the groundwater level in some areas is gradually declining. Unless the Barind area is developed through an integrated water and land management, the current groundwater dependent irrigation project may not be sustainable and may create adverse environmental reactions.