Padma, Jamuna, Ganges devour 18,051 hectares in 6 yrs
Another chunk of 6,655 hectares may erode along four rivers this year
Reported by: BY Faisal Rahman, UNB Staff Writer
Reported on: July 14, 2012 16:30 PM
Reported in: National
Reported on: July 14, 2012 16:30 PM
Reported in: National
Dhaka, July 14 (UNB) – Three major rivers-- the Padma, the Jamuna and the Ganges -- have devoured some 18,051 hectares of land over the last six years and may erode 1,920 hectares this year, according to government monitoring and prediction reports.
The latest erosion forecast, which also includes the erosion prediction along the Lower Meghna basin, states that some 4,735 hectares of land along the lower Meghan River also stand threatened by erosion.
In total, 6,655 hectares of land along the four major river systems in the country – the Jamuna, the Padma, the Ganges and the Lower Meghna -- are exposed to the threat of erosion this year, says the forecast, jointly conducted by the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) and Centre of Environmental and Geographic Information Services (CEGIS).
The report says 1,492 hectares of human settlements, 3.5 kilometres of embankments, 8.27 kilometres of district roads, 0.62 kilometres of upazila roads and 14.36 kilometres of rural roads are vulnerable to riverbank erosion along the four rivers.
According to the report, 43 educational institutions, five rural markets, three government offices, three non-governmental offices, two health centres and 25 mosques in 28 districts remain vulnerable to erosion along the banks of the four rivers.
CEGIS deputy executive director Maminul Haque Sarker told UNB that the river bank erosion monitoring over the recent years show more erosion occurrences than it was forecast.
Last year, 3,598 hectares of land were eroded across the Jamuna, the Padma and the Ganges basins, against the prediction of 2,431 hectares, he pointed out.
“Since 2004, CEGIS has been conducting the monitoring and prediction of the erosion in major river systems in an empirical method, using time series satellite images and various field datum and information that include geometrical location and characteristics of the bank material,” he explained, “And our prediction has gained a very satisfactory level of accuracy over the years.”
CEGIS executive director Giasuddin Ahmed Chowdhury said, “Riverbank erosion prediction aims at reducing the risks of riverbank erosion and lessening the damage in the vulnerable areas by early warning with enough time in hand.”
Though not a total alternative to costly structural measures to protect riverbank erosion, non-structural measures like erosion monitoring involves lesser costs and helps risk management in other ways, he added.
“River erosion and accretion in mighty river systems are incidents of geological scale, and can never be totally stopped, or even predicted with the 100 percent accuracy,” he said, adding that about 1,910 square kilometre lands were eroded along the Jamuna, the Ganges, the Padma and the lower Meghna since 1973, while the accretion of lands stands at 755 square kilometre during the same period.
Based on morphological studies of the rivers mentioned above, CEGIS suggests that a great portion of lands can be accreted from the river system by channelisation that involves extensive dredging as well as construction of massive river controlling structures at strategic locations.
The channelisation of the Jamuna and the Padma rivers will reduce the average width of the rivers to 4 kilometere and 5 kilometre respectively, against the current average width of 12 and 10 kilometres, he added.
Institute of Water and Environment (IWE) chairman M Enamul Haque, however, strongly criticised the idea of channelisation of big rivers, saying it would lead to catastrophe.
Enamul Haque, also the former director general of Water Resources Planning Organisation (Warpo), said, “If you consider the natural slope of the rivers such as the Jamuna and the Padma, the channelisation will surely create big waterfalls on the downstream and lead to massive erosion.”
“Rivers should not be humbled by obstructing their natural course. In most cases, you need to allow the erosion and accretion cycles of rivers to avert greater disastrous consequences,” he said.
“But at the same time, the government must also ensure that the people displaced by erosion are rehabilitated and compensated,” he said.
The government should address the plight of the erosion affected people and adopt a land policy that will ensure newly accreted lands to the landless.
Building physical structures to prevent erosion on riverbanks can only be considered when it comes to the question of protecting important structures and establishments, he said.
The latest erosion forecast, which also includes the erosion prediction along the Lower Meghna basin, states that some 4,735 hectares of land along the lower Meghan River also stand threatened by erosion.
In total, 6,655 hectares of land along the four major river systems in the country – the Jamuna, the Padma, the Ganges and the Lower Meghna -- are exposed to the threat of erosion this year, says the forecast, jointly conducted by the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) and Centre of Environmental and Geographic Information Services (CEGIS).
The report says 1,492 hectares of human settlements, 3.5 kilometres of embankments, 8.27 kilometres of district roads, 0.62 kilometres of upazila roads and 14.36 kilometres of rural roads are vulnerable to riverbank erosion along the four rivers.
According to the report, 43 educational institutions, five rural markets, three government offices, three non-governmental offices, two health centres and 25 mosques in 28 districts remain vulnerable to erosion along the banks of the four rivers.
CEGIS deputy executive director Maminul Haque Sarker told UNB that the river bank erosion monitoring over the recent years show more erosion occurrences than it was forecast.
Last year, 3,598 hectares of land were eroded across the Jamuna, the Padma and the Ganges basins, against the prediction of 2,431 hectares, he pointed out.
“Since 2004, CEGIS has been conducting the monitoring and prediction of the erosion in major river systems in an empirical method, using time series satellite images and various field datum and information that include geometrical location and characteristics of the bank material,” he explained, “And our prediction has gained a very satisfactory level of accuracy over the years.”
CEGIS executive director Giasuddin Ahmed Chowdhury said, “Riverbank erosion prediction aims at reducing the risks of riverbank erosion and lessening the damage in the vulnerable areas by early warning with enough time in hand.”
Though not a total alternative to costly structural measures to protect riverbank erosion, non-structural measures like erosion monitoring involves lesser costs and helps risk management in other ways, he added.
“River erosion and accretion in mighty river systems are incidents of geological scale, and can never be totally stopped, or even predicted with the 100 percent accuracy,” he said, adding that about 1,910 square kilometre lands were eroded along the Jamuna, the Ganges, the Padma and the lower Meghna since 1973, while the accretion of lands stands at 755 square kilometre during the same period.
Based on morphological studies of the rivers mentioned above, CEGIS suggests that a great portion of lands can be accreted from the river system by channelisation that involves extensive dredging as well as construction of massive river controlling structures at strategic locations.
The channelisation of the Jamuna and the Padma rivers will reduce the average width of the rivers to 4 kilometere and 5 kilometre respectively, against the current average width of 12 and 10 kilometres, he added.
Institute of Water and Environment (IWE) chairman M Enamul Haque, however, strongly criticised the idea of channelisation of big rivers, saying it would lead to catastrophe.
Enamul Haque, also the former director general of Water Resources Planning Organisation (Warpo), said, “If you consider the natural slope of the rivers such as the Jamuna and the Padma, the channelisation will surely create big waterfalls on the downstream and lead to massive erosion.”
“Rivers should not be humbled by obstructing their natural course. In most cases, you need to allow the erosion and accretion cycles of rivers to avert greater disastrous consequences,” he said.
“But at the same time, the government must also ensure that the people displaced by erosion are rehabilitated and compensated,” he said.
The government should address the plight of the erosion affected people and adopt a land policy that will ensure newly accreted lands to the landless.
Building physical structures to prevent erosion on riverbanks can only be considered when it comes to the question of protecting important structures and establishments, he said.
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