the majority of the river's flow, continues due south as the Jamuna () to merge with the lower Ganges, called the Padma River (). The eastern branch, formerly the larger but now much smaller, is called the lower or Old Brahmaputra (). It curves southeast to join the Meghna River near Dhaka. The Padma and Meghna converge near Chandpur and flow out into the Bay of Bengal. This final part of the river is called Meghna. In the past the course of the lower Brahmaputra was different and passed through the Jamalpur and Mymensingh districts. In a major magnitude earthquake on April 2, 1762, the main channel of the Brahmaputra at Bhahadurabad point was switched southwards and opened as Jamuna due to the result of tectonic uplift of the Madhupur tract. The Jamuna is a very wide river. During the rains it is about from bank to bank. Even during the dry season when the waters subside, the breadth is hardly less than . The Jamuna was a barrier in establishing a direct road link between capital Dhaka and northern part of Bangladesh, better known as Rajshahi Division, until 1996. This was mitigated by the completion of the Jamuna Multi-purpose Bridge. It is also a very important waterway. It is navigable all year round by large cargo and passenger steamers. Before the Partition of Bengal in 1947, passenger steamers used to ply up to Dibrugarh in the state of Assam in the Indian Union. At present two steamer ferry services link the district of Pabna with the districts of Mymensingh, Tangail and Dhaka. The Bangladesh Railway maintains a ferry service between Serajganj in Pabna and Jagannathganj in Mymensingh. The other ferry service between Nagarbari in Pabna and Aricha in Dhaka is run by the C & B Department. See also List of rivers in Bangladesh References External links Rivers of Bangladesh Distributaries of the Ganges Rivers of Rajshahi Division