River erosion
Photo: Quddus Alam/ Driknews
Bangladesh is an active deltaic plain in a constant state of morphological change. There is a large seasonal variation in the flows and the sediment carrying capacity of the rivers. The rivers in this deltaic plan are categorized as either unstable such as the Meghna or very unstable such as the Padma and the Jamuna. The Jamuna is of a braided and eroded nature. The annual erosion rate is 8,700 hectors. The erosion has led to destruction of villages rendering thousands of people homeless every year. The newspapers reported that the Jamuna river erosion took serious turn at Swashanghat point and the portion of the embankment of the western bank of the river collapsed within moments, and people living near the embankment started running to and fro following the embankment collapse. In Bangladesh every year rivers engulf enormous amount of agricultural fields, destroy hundreds of homesteads and make thousands of people homeless. Those affected by river erosion take shelter further inland if they have any other land there, otherwise they either take shelter on the embankments or migrate to urban areas. Time and again they had to move from one place to the next as the river engulfed the land they settled on. Another growing concern is that important towns and infrastructures are being threatened by riverbank erosion. A poor man is more insecure than a rich man as he is more vulnerable to different crises. He has less economic strength and lower social status, as such he has less capacity of coping with any crisis. So, we can say that river erosion is creating long-term poverty and it is also a key reason of poverty in Bangladesh. We must try to mitigate this problem.
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