Around 2,428 hectares of cultivable land and 413 hectares of settlement on the banks of Jamuna, Ganges and Padma rivers will disappear due to erosion this year.
Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) and Center for Environmental and Geographic Information Services (CEGIS) have made the prediction through analysing satellite images.
BWDB has started protective works in several vulnerable areas on both banks of Jamuna, Ganges and Padma but river erosion has turned serious in many places including Sariakandi and Dhunat upazilas of Bogra district, said AKM Momtaz Uddin, executive engineer of BWDB, Bogra.
"We are trying to protect three spurs in Sariakandi and Dhunat upazilas of Bogra which were constructed at accost of Tk 28 crore in 2000-2001 financial year," he said.
BWDB and CEGIES sources said that at least 1,53,566 hectares of cultivable land along with 50,339 hectares of settlement were eroded due to erosion by Jamuna, Ganges and Padma rivers during the period from 1973 to 2011.
In 2010, the rivers Jamuna, Ganges and Padma eroded more than 3,047 hectares of cultivable land and 332 hectares of settlements with 15 establishments including two health centres. At least 48 establishments including 35 educational institutions and two health centres are vulnerable to erosion along the Jamuna and Padma rivers. About 23,100 people on the riverbanks lost their shelter due to erosion in the last year, BWDB sources said.
BWDB and CEGIS predict that 24,270 people will become homeless and landless due to the erosion of the three rivers this year. The highest 18,000 people on the bank of the Jamuna will become landless and homeless this year.
'Prediction of River Bank Erosion along the Jamuna, the Ganges and the Padma Rivers in 2011' published by BWDB in June says that at least 2,620 metres of active embankment, 770 metres of district roads and 3,990 metres of rural roads are 50 percent vulnerable along the Jamuna, Ganges and Padma rivers in 16 districts this year.
According to the publication, the rate of erosion by the Jamuna river was 5,000 hectares per year in the 1980s and it is around 2000 hectares in recent years.
Erosion by the Padma River was 2,300 hectares per year in the 1990s and it came down to 1200 hectares per year in early 2000s. Satellite images show that the width of the Ganges is almost stable although the river has continued shifting.
"I shifted my house five times during last 20 years. I have lost my 30 bighas of land due to the erosion by Jamuna River during last 30 years," said Abdul Khaleque, 80, of Dhanbandi village in Sariakandi upazila of Bogra district.
Mokshed Ali, 50, of the same village shifted his house four times during last 20 years. He also lost his 16 bighas of cultivable land due to the river erosion.
BWDB and CEGIES data shows that 26 areas of Kurigram, Gaibandha, Jamalpur, Bogra, Sirajganj, Tangail and Manikganj districts are vulnerable to erosion on the banks of the Jamuna. Similarly, 10 areas of Chapainawabganj, Rajshahi, Kushtia, Pabna and Rajbari districts are identified as vulnerable on the both banks of the Ganges. The satellite images also identified Faridpur Sadar, Char Bhadrasan in Faridpur district, Zanjira in Shariatpur, Dohar in Dhaka and Tongibari in Munshiganj district as vulnerable on the bank of the Padma.
Database of the two organisations says that 120 hectares of cultivable land on the bank of the Jamuna in Sariakandi upazila in Bogra, 81 hectares of cultivable land in Chapainawabganj Sadar upazila on the Ganges and about 119 hectares of land on the Padma at Zanjira in Shariatpur district will disappear due to the river erosion this year.
Source : The Daily Star
