Vast lands go down gorges of rivers

Devastating floods, dangerous erosion

Mazharul Islam Mitchel: Bangladesh loses around 2,270 hectares of land this year due to riverbank erosion, a study report says, because of strong pulls by receding floodwaters. Center for Environmental and Geographic Information Services (CEGIS) reports that about 700 rivers, including their tributaries, flow through Bangladesh, constituting a waterway of a total length of around 24,140 kilometres. Every year in Bangladesh, riverbank erosion leads to millions of people being affected as it results in damage and loss of crops, cattle, housing structures, and farmland, says the report. Riverbank erosion across the country has taken serious turn following devastating floods in some areas, rendering lakhs of people homeless. Besides, the erosion by receding flows is also destroying crop lan...  read more>>