Combating river erosion

Successive governments have made efforts to tame river erosion with little success

Bangladesh is a country crisscrossed by scores of rivers. River is a part of  life of the people of the country. Rivers play important roles in various sectors of life. They are repositories of fishes that provide nutrition. Their waters contribute to production of crops. Launches, steamers, boats, cargoes   and other vessels ply through the rivers. But rivers can also be the sources of woes for the people when they turn rapacious and hostile.  

According to a report of this newspaper yesterday, at least 250 families of Shutki Kanda and Rasulpur villages in Sadar upazila of Narsingdi district have been rendered homeless over a period of three days due to erosion by the river Meghna. Erosion has become a regular phenomenon in Bangladesh in recent years. Not only Meghna, Padma, Jamuna, Brahmaputra, Teesta and other rivers are eroding vast chunks of land every year in different places of the country. Thousands of people have been rendered homeless by erosion in the country over the past few years. The homeless people migrated to cities and towns for survival. Rise in the number of slum dwellers is due to the large-scale migration of people to the cities for making a living.  

     Successive governments have made efforts to tame erosion by major rivers with little success. In some cases money allocated to such projects went to the drains.  Displacement of a vast number of people by erosion poses problems   for the government. The government’s poverty alleviation programme will be futile unless the problems of the displaced people are addressed. They are adding to the problems of the already hard-pressed urban life. They are also polluting the environment in different ways and contributing to surge in criminal activities.

     Accumulation of silts in the river bed due to absence of dredging is the main cause of erosion. The major rivers of the country have been silted, affecting navigability and causing erosion. The flow of the rivers can be increased through dredging. By dumping sand bags erosion can be checked temporarily. Undertaking projects like river training, river dredging and hydraulic engineering can help reduce and combat river erosion effectively. Various NGOs can also make efforts alongside the government ones in this regard. On the other hand, the people rendered homeless by the onslaught of erosion can be rehabilitated on the chars emerging on the major rivers.   

Combating river erosion

Successive governments have made efforts to tame river erosion with little success

Bangladesh is a country crisscrossed by scores of rivers. River is a part of life of the people of the country. Rivers play important roles in various sectors of life. They are repositories of fishes that provide nutrition. Their waters contribute to production of crops. Launches, steamers, boats, cargoes and other vessels ply through the rivers. But rivers can also be the sources of woes for the people when they turn rapacious and hostile. According to a report of this newspaper yesterday, at least 250 families of Shutki Kanda and Rasulpur villages in Sadar upazila of Narsingdi district have been rendered homeless over a period of three days due to erosion by the river Meghna. Erosion has become a regular phenomenon in Bangladesh in recent years. Not only Meghna, Padma, Jamuna, Brahmaputra, Teesta and other rivers are eroding vast chunks of land every year in different places of the country. Thousands of people have been rendered homeless by erosion in the country over the past few years. The homeless people migrated to cities and towns for survival. Rise in the number of slum dwellers is due to the large-scale migration of people to the cities for making a living. Successive governments have made efforts to tame erosion by major rivers with little success. In some cases money allocated to such projects went to the drains. Displacement of a vast number of people by erosion poses problems for the government. The governments poverty alleviation programme will be futile unless the problems of the displaced people are addressed. They are adding to the problems of the already hard-pressed urban life. They are also polluting the environment in different ways and contributing to surge in criminal activities. Accumulation of silts in the river bed due to absence of dredging is the main cause of erosion. The major rivers of the country have been silted, affecting navigability and causing erosion. The flow of the rivers can be increased through dredging. By dumping sand bags erosion can be checked temporarily. Undertaking projects like river training, river dredging and hydraulic engineering can help reduce and combat river erosion effectively. Various NGOs can also make efforts alongside the government ones in this regard. On the other hand, the people rendered homeless by the onslaught of erosion can be rehabilitated on the chars emerging on the major rivers.