Noman Mosharef :
The riverbank erosion is considering incarnate fear for the people of coastal areas of Bangladesh which brings unbearable owe during Monsoon season.
The monsoon season brings the slow violence of river erosion every year, and it is fast becoming a crisis that quietly devastates thousands along the country’s vulnerable riverbanks.
The coastal people have lost their livelihood, croplands, and animals in a twinkling of an eye. A wealthy family becomes worthless by a night.
For riverine communities, survival hinges not just on the mercy of nature, but on the state’s ability to anticipate what is all but inevitable. And yet, year after year, state response has been defined primarily by relief rather than resilience.
Recently, in Gaibandha, Riverbank erosion has eaten up a vast tract of cropland in different places of the district.
Locals said soil erosion has taken a serious turn in Jamuna, Teesta, Brahmaputra, Ghaghat and Karatoya rivers due to floods.
The breakdown occurs shortly after the river water is receded.
According to the data from the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), the total cultivable land in the district was 167,547 hectares a year ago.
Of these, more than 162 hectares of agricultural land have been washed away in the river. At present, the amount of agricultural land in the district has decreased by 167,385 hectares.
Farmers say that every year agricultural land is being devoured in the rivers.
If this situation continues, many farmers will lose land and become helpless, which will affect food production. If the riverbanks are not prevented, the amount of cultivable land will be further reduced in the days ahead.
According to DAE sources, in the last one year, 162.75 hectares of cropland on the riverbanks has been washed away. However, 750 hectares of chars have woken up. Various crops are also being cultivated in those pastures.
DAE Deputy Director Khorshed Alam told The New Nation, “Due to the riverbank erosion, farmers are facing loss.”
Residents along the rivers said that Gaibandha Sadar, Sundarganj, Phulchari and Saghata upazilas have situated along Teesta, Jamuna, Brahmaputra, Ghaghat and Karatoya rivers.
During the rainy season, these rivers are severely eroded during the water and decreasing. Many establishments, including cropland, have disappeared and many families have become homeless.
Many lost the land and houses and left the areas. He has taken shelter in different regions, including Dhaka and Chittagong.
At least 17 houses, several bigha of farmlands and a half-kilometre road were swallowed up by the Dharla River due to severe erosion in Kurigram for the past one week.
Of them, 10 houses at Char-Gorokmondal village under Naodanga and seven houses, farmlands and other properties at Dhoniram village under Borobhita union went into the gorge of the river.
Over 500 families of the two unions are at high risk of losing their homes and other properties anytime unless initiatives are taken immediately to halt the erosion.
Azizul Islam and Maidul Islam of Char-Gorokmondal village said some 30 dwelling houses, farmlands of different crops including maize, sugarcane and a good portion of the only road of the locality were swallowed up by the river in two-three month since the monsoon began.
Hachhen Ali, chairman of Naodanga union parishad, said they sent a letter to the district unit Bangladesh Water Development Board with recommendation of a local lawmaker to dump the GEO bags filled with sand in erosion-prone Char-Gorokmondal village immediately.
Responding to the letter, they dumped 2200 GEO bags against the actual need of some 10,000 to 15,000 ones, said Ali.
He urged the authorities concerned to take an immediate step to stop the erosion to save lives and properties.
Illias Hossain, member of the ward No 2 of Borovita union, urged the authorities concerned to take immediate measures to stop the erosion on the both banks of the river.
Bangladesh Water Development Board Executive Engineer in Kurigram Abdullah Al Mamun said they have already stopped the bank-erosion of the river by dumping 2200 GEO bags at Char-Gorokmondal village.
“Besides, we have continuously been working to curb the erosion in an area amounting to around 2km in Borobhita union,” he added.
Teesta and Dharla riverbank erosion has taken a serious turn in many places in Lalmonirhat.
Locals said due to rainy season soil erosion started at many points of Teesta and Dharla river basin areas of Aditmari and Hatibandha upazilas.
According to locals, a good number of homesteads have been devoured by the rivers in the last few days.
Most low-lying areas of five upazilas of the district went under water due to incessant rain and onrush of upstream water from India.
Upstream water and heavy rain triggered a flash flood in Teesta and Dharla river basin areas, leaving the low-lying areas inundated.
As water levels recede in the Jamuna River, severe erosion has been reported along the riverbanks in the Sonatala area of Bogura.
Although the Water Development Board has placed geo bags filled with sand at certain locations, the measures have not been sufficient to prevent the erosion.
Many residents have been left in despair after losing their homes, with some even seeing ancestral graves washed away, fueling further panic among riverbank communities.
The affected people have appealed to the government for urgent, long-term solutions to halt the erosion.
According to local sources, the Jamuna River’s water level has been falling in recent days, causing erosion in several villages within Sonatala upazila.
On Friday, areas including Mirzapur, PurboSujaitpur, Radhakantapur, Amtali, Musharpara, Aucharpara, Mohabbatpara, Jontiarpara, Saralia, PurboTekani, and Chukainagar began experiencing increased riverbank erosion.
Erosion along the Jamuna has persisted for nearly 18 years, with parts of these villages vanishing from the map. Over 300 people from Aucharpara and nearby areas have relocated their homes, while local markets have also been shifted.
Recently during a visit in Kurigram, Water Resources Adviser SyedaRizwanaHasan said the government is working on a priority basis to check river bank erosion across the country giving the priority along the Teesta River.
She noted that the demand for a permanent embankment to controlTeesta erosion is legitimate.
So, the adviser said, the present government is focusing on emergency protection works in the most vulnerable areas within a short time.
