Severe river erosion

Plants establish root systems, which in turn, stabilises the soil, preventing erosion

River erosion has severely hit more than 20 points on the banks of various rivers flowing through the greater Barisal district. Roads, croplands, residential houses, educational and religious institutions, shops and markets and ferry stations are being eroded besides ground soil. The corrosion has sharply increased in the southern districts due to the pressure of the overflowing downstream river water. By now the three major rivers – the Jamuna, the Ganges and the Padma have reportedly grabbed around 2,695 hectares of land forcing more than 25,000 people to flee. 
It has been observed that many times in the past that, after rain the erosion takes a turn for the worse. The circumstances should have been predicted beforehand while due precautions taken. Panicked people are hastily shifting their properties from the affected area. 
Not that erosion is new, but the preventive measures to deter its intensity, over the years have observantly failed. It is clearly known that river erosion occurs mainly due to substantial increase in water flow or the removal of trees and other vegetation from its banks. At least the pattern in our case has been the unrelenting water cutting through the earth around it. Weak embankments are also prone to sudden crumbling. The point, however, is what are we doing to effectively counter it? 
In the prevention sequence of river erosion there are observation, communications, planning and taking action and what we have come to realise is relating to erosion there have always been a major flaw in any of the four steps not only in the south but all across Bangladesh. The concerned authorities must address the steps in this sequence for identifying and strengthen where the weakness lies. One of the most common soil erosion prevention methods is vegetation. It is the simplest and most natural way to prevent erosion control through planting vegetation. Plants establish root systems, which in turn, stabilize the soil, preventing erosion. On the other hand, the softer approaches can be established by government like bioengineering method, which uses live vegetation and woody material for bank stabilization.
In most cases the rate of vegetation along river banks is thin. Moreover, woodcutters also target vegetation so plants cannot grow as per expectation. We need monitoring here. Embankments too should be built according to strong and rigorous guidelines so to withhold the force of erosion.     

 

Severe river erosion

Plants establish root systems, which in turn, stabilises the soil, preventing erosion

River erosion has severely hit more than 20 points on the banks of various rivers flowing through the greater Barisal district. Roads, croplands, residential houses, educational and religious institutions, shops and markets and ferry stations are being eroded besides ground soil. The corrosion has sharply increased in the southern districts due to the pressure of the overflowing downstream river water. By now the three major rivers the Jamuna, the Ganges and the Padma have reportedly grabbed around 2,695 hectares of land forcing more than 25,000 people to flee. It has been observed that many times in the past that, after rain the erosion takes a turn for the worse. The circumstances should have been predicted beforehand while due precautions taken. Panicked people are hastily shifting their properties from the affected area. Not that erosion is new, but the preventive measures to deter its intensity, over the years have observantly failed. It is clearly known that river erosion occurs mainly due to substantial increase in water flow or the removal of trees and other vegetation from its banks. At least the pattern in our case has been the unrelenting water cutting through the earth around it. Weak embankments are also prone to sudden crumbling. The point, however, is what are we doing to effectively counter it? In the prevention sequence of river erosion there are observation, communications, planning and taking action and what we have come to realise is relating to erosion there have always been a major flaw in any of the four steps not only in the south but all across Bangladesh. The concerned authorities must address the steps in this sequence for identifying and strengthen where the weakness lies. One of the most common soil erosion prevention methods is vegetation. It is the simplest and most natural way to prevent erosion control through planting vegetation. Plants establish root systems, which in turn, stabilize the soil, preventing erosion. On the other hand, the softer approaches can be established by government like bioengineering method, which uses live vegetation and woody material for bank stabilization. In most cases the rate of vegetation along river banks is thin. Moreover, woodcutters also target vegetation so plants cannot grow as per expectation. We need monitoring here. Embankments too should be built according to strong and rigorous guidelines so to withhold the force of erosion.