natural disaster River bank erosion of Bangladesh

Rivers in Bangladesh are morphologically highly dynamic. Erosion processes are highly unpredictable, and not compensated by accretion. These processes also have dramatic consequences in the lives of people living in the erosion prone areas. Around 10,000 hectares land is eroded by river per year in Bangladesh affecting about 1 million people on a yearly basis. Kurigram, Gaibandha, Jamalpur, Bogra, Sirajganj, Tangail, Pabna and Manikganj districts lie in the erosion prone area along Jamuna River. Erosion of total area and settlement is higher along the left bank than that of the right bank. Along Padma River, there are the districts of Rajbari, Faridpur, Manikganj, Dhaka, Munshiganj and Shariatpur. Chandpur on Lower Meghna is also seriously erosion prone.

Natural disaster Drought of Bangladesh

Bangladesh experiences major droughts once in 5 years. Droughts at local scale are much more frequent and affect part of the crop life cycle. The western part of the country is vulnerable to drought during pre-monsoon period. During the last 50 years, Bangladesh suffered about 20 drought conditions. The drought condition in north-western Bangladesh in recent decades had led to a shortfall of rice production of 3.5 million tonnes in the 1990s. If other losses, such as, to other crops (all rabi crops, sugarcane, tobacco, wheat, etc) as well as to perennial agricultural resources, such as, bamboo, betel nut, fruits like litchi, mango, jackfruit, banana etc. are considered, the loss will be substantially much higher.

Natural disaster Flood of Bangladesh

Flood is a regular natural disaster occurring in Bangladesh and thus entailing huge damage to the economy. On average, approximately one quarter of the country is inundated. Once in every 4-5 years, however there is a severe flood that may cover over 60% of the country and cause loss of life and substantial damage to infrastructure, housing, agriculture and livelihoods. In the last 25 years, Bangladesh has experienced five severe floods (Table 2.1), the most damaging one being in 1998 covering more than two-thirds area of the country.

Natural Disaster of Bangladesh

Natural disaster is a regular phenomenon in Bangladesh due to its unique geographical location (Himalaya to the north and Bay of Bengal to the south). Key natural disasters are riverine flood, tropical cyclones, droughts, river erosion and earthquake. It is reported that disasters that occurred between 1991 and 2000, resulted in nearly 200,000 deaths and causing US $ 5.9 billion in damages with high losses in agriculture and infrastructure. The direct annual cost to the national economy of natural disasters over the last 10 years (damage and lost production) is estimated to be between 0.5% and 1% of GDP.

Environment and natural resource management of Bangladesh

Human lives and livelihood in Bangladesh are intricately intertwined with nature. Consequently, no process of development and eradication of poverty can be conceived of without putting caring for environment and sustainable development at the centre stage. On the other hand, as the poor depend heavily on nature for their livelihood, without the whole-hearted involvement of the poor, caring for environment becomes an extremely difficult task. Bangladesh is a signatory of the Multilateral Environmental Agreement by which government is committed to undertake certain environmental management actions which will be largely beneficial to the poor.