River erosion

River erosion leaves around 50,000 people landless every year in the country which indeed is a matter of grave concern

According to media reports the devastating erosion by the mighty river Padma has taken a serious turn in Char Bhadrasan upazila of the district threatening the river-protection dam. The people of the upazila living beside the dam are passing days in fear of erosion.  Land erosion by rivers in different parts of the country has been recurring time and again and the authorities have failed to show enough concern to the plight of the people who are losing their home and hearth. As a matter of fact river erosion leaves around 50,000 people landless every year in the country which indeed is a matter of grave concern.

Rapid urbanisation has converted fertile agriculture, forests and wetlands into concreted areas that are unable to retain rainwater or channel them into tributary streams that feed various rivers. Urbanisation demands concrete; concrete requires sand. Rampant sand mining has altered the natural topography of the river, eroding its banks and altering water flow patterns. Despite warnings from environmentalist groups this practice continues unchecked.

In a nutshell, the people of our country are affected because of riverbank erosion every year. The effects can’t be described in a word. The government and other organisations of our country should take some immediate steps to reduce the volume of the effects of riverbank erosion. The authorities should conduct some outstanding research projects to find out ways that can be helpful to improve the socio-economic status of the affected people.

It must be noted that in the absence of enough rehabilitation programme on part of the government, in particular, and because of flawed administrative and economic policies pursued by successive governments, in general, most of such river erosion victims are forced to migrate to different cities, especially the capital, and ending up leading a subhuman life. Moreover, such a large migration of people increasingly leaves additional pressure on the cities already overburdened with various problems. Additionally river erosion destroys thousands of hectares of farmland every year posing a threat to the national food security.

As Bangladesh is a living delta that came into being because of huge silt carried every year by the major rivers crisscrossing the land, the country cannot get rid of river erosion altogether. Climate change, mostly caused by factors across the country’s boundaries, continues to contribute to the problem. But one cannot deny as well that the proper management of the rivers, coupled with necessary measures to address climate change impact on humans and ecology, can mitigate the problem to a significant degree.

River erosion

River erosion leaves around 50,000 people landless every year in the country which indeed is a matter of grave concern

According to media reports the devastating erosion by the mighty river Padma has taken a serious turn in Char Bhadrasan upazila of the district threatening the river-protection dam. The people of the upazila living beside the dam are passing days in fear of erosion. Land erosion by rivers in different parts of the country has been recurring time and again and the authorities have failed to show enough concern to the plight of the people who are losing their home and hearth. As a matter of fact river erosion leaves around 50,000 people landless every year in the country which indeed is a matter of grave concern. Rapid urbanisation has converted fertile agriculture, forests and wetlands into concreted areas that are unable to retain rainwater or channel them into tributary streams that feed various rivers. Urbanisation demands concrete; concrete requires sand. Rampant sand mining has altered the natural topography of the river, eroding its banks and altering water flow patterns. Despite warnings from environmentalist groups this practice continues unchecked. In a nutshell, the people of our country are affected because of riverbank erosion every year. The effects cant be described in a word. The government and other organisations of our country should take some immediate steps to reduce the volume of the effects of riverbank erosion. The authorities should conduct some outstanding research projects to find out ways that can be helpful to improve the socio-economic status of the affected people. It must be noted that in the absence of enough rehabilitation programme on part of the government, in particular, and because of flawed administrative and economic policies pursued by successive governments, in general, most of such river erosion victims are forced to migrate to different cities, especially the capital, and ending up leading a subhuman life. Moreover, such a large migration of people increasingly leaves additional pressure on the cities already overburdened with various problems. Additionally river erosion destroys thousands of hectares of farmland every year posing a threat to the national food security. As Bangladesh is a living delta that came into being because of huge silt carried every year by the major rivers crisscrossing the land, the country cannot get rid of river erosion altogether. Climate change, mostly caused by factors across the countrys boundaries, continues to contribute to the problem. But one cannot deny as well that the proper management of the rivers, coupled with necessary measures to address climate change impact on humans and ecology, can mitigate the problem to a significant degree.