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🇧🇩 Bangladesh /Disasters & Emergencies

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From Daily Star · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Residents in Bangladesh's Kurigram and Lalmonirhat districts face recurring riverbank erosion, with hundreds of bighas of farmland lost and homes threatened over the past month and a half.
  • The Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) is placing sand-filled geobags as an immediate measure, but locals demand permanent embankment projects.
  • Affected communities have held protests, including human chains and rallies, demanding durable solutions to the annual crisis that displaces families and destroys livelihoods.

Families living along the Dharla River in Bangladesh's Kurigram and Lalmonirhat districts are once again bracing for the devastating impact of monsoon-driven erosion. Over the past six weeks, the river has swallowed hundreds of bighas of farmland, jeopardized homes, and forced families to abandon their villages, leaving residents desperate for a lasting solution.

Sand-filled geobags can provide temporary protection against erosion, but a durable embankment is essential to stop the erosion permanently.

— Hashem AliA 65-year-old farmer from Char Mekhli in Kurigram, describing the inadequacy of temporary measures against river erosion.

The Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) has deployed sand-filled geobags to vulnerable points as an emergency measure. However, residents argue these bags offer only temporary respite. They are demanding the construction of permanent, durable embankments to safeguard their communities from the relentless river.

Unless a durable embankment is built, we will continue to suffer river erosion every year.

— Sirajul IslamA farmer from the same village, highlighting the cyclical nature of the problem and the need for permanent solutions.

Frustration has boiled over into action, with residents organizing five human chains and rallies in recent weeks to voice their demands. In Char Mekhli, Barabhita Union, locals staged a human chain outside the Phulbari upazila Parishad, highlighting their plight. The BWDB acknowledges erosion at six points in each district, stating that the geobags have temporarily halted the damage but warning that rising water levels could restart the erosion.

Our croplands have gone into the river, and our homesteads are also under threat. Many people have already lost their homes and been forced to leave the village.

— Akbar AliA resident of Char Gorkamondal, expressing the severe impact of erosion on livelihoods and housing.

"Sand-filled geobags can provide temporary protection against erosion, but a durable embankment is essential to stop the erosion permanently," said Hashem Ali, a 65-year-old farmer from Char Mekhli. He has already lost three bighas of cropland and a fruit orchard, with the erosion now nearing his home. Sirajul Islam, another farmer, reported that approximately 200 bighas of farmland and 10 homesteads have been affected in his area alone over the past month and a half. "Unless a durable embankment is built, we will continue to suffer river erosion every year," he stated. Akbar Ali, 66, echoed these sentiments, noting that repeated protests have yielded no permanent solution, forcing many to abandon their homes and villages.

The Water Development Board only places sand-filled geobags. The erosion stops for a while and then starts again.

— Narayan Chandra BarmanA 70-year-old resident of Bongram in Lalmonirhat, criticizing the temporary nature of the BWDB's interventions.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Daily Star. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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