Causes of River Bank Erosion of Bangladesh

1. Causes of River Bank Erosion in Bangladesh:
 Geological Shape: The flat delta lands of Bangladesh offer little
resistance to the hydraulic forces of its rivers, particularly during
periods of high flow. As a consequence, in many regions rivers such as
the Jamuna run wide rather than deep: easily 10 km wide at places
during high water, yet rarely in channels with sides deeper than two or
three meters.
 Mature stage of River: When rivers enter the mature stage (as in
the case with the three mighty rivers, ganges, brahmaputra and
meghna) they become sluggish and meander or braid. These oscillations
cause massive riverbank erosion.
 Sedmientaion in the River beds: The catchment area of the major
rivers is about 1.65 million square km of which only 7.5 percent lies
within the border of Bangladesh that generates 1200 km3 of run- off
annually, only 10 percent of which is generated within Bangladesh. In
addition to vast quantities of water, these rivers carry about 1.1 billion
tons of sediment every year and are responsible for the prevalence of
flooding and riverbank erosion in Bangladesh.
Vulnerable Rivers: According to Banglapedia, The following rivers are
vulnerable for bank erosion.
 Jamuna
 Ganga
 Padma
 Brahmaputra
Factors that Accelerate Erosion:
 Stream bed lowering or in fill
 Flooding of bank soils followed by rapid drops in flow
 Saturation of banks from off-stream source
 Redirection and acceleration of flow within the channel
 Poor Soil Drainage

2.  Wave Action
 Excessive Sand/Gravel Extraction
 Intense Water from Rainfall
Impacts of River Bank Erosion:
 Social Impact (Homelessness, Migration, Identity Crisis)
 Economic Impact (Loss of Productive Land, Loss of Employment,
Risk of Poverty)
 Other Impact (Health Damage, Criminal Activities, Building
Collapse)
River Bank Erosion Losses in Bangladesh:
 It is estimated that about 5% of the total FLOODPLAIN of
Bangladesh is directly affected by erosion.
 Bank erosion is taking place in about 94 out of 489 upazilas of the
country.
 At present, bank erosion and FLOOD hazards in nearly 100 upazilas
have become almost a regular feature. Of these, 35 are severely
affected.
 Building sloping down due to river bank erosion.