The horrors of river bank erosion are being depicted in the media very touchingly this year. But the problem is also a chronic one. Riverbank erosion is a major annual problem associated with the large rivers in Bangladeshand has severe consequences to the livelihoods of those living on floodplains. While normal floods are considered beneficial for agriculture and fisheries, erosion and continuous river widening causes the loss of important infrastructure as well as highly productive agricultural lands and threatens settlements. Erosion will continue to impact on those living on the increasingly denser populated floodplains, and is likely to be exacerbated by climate change. Uncontrolled and increased riverbank erosion increases the risk of flood damage apart from the loss of vital infrastructure. Further investments are deferred and the full agricultural potential of the fertile floodplain land cannot be realized. As a consequence, crop production tends to remain below average in some of the most fertile parts of the country and poverty remains an unavoidable problem.
A survey shows that about 1 million people are annually affected and displaced by riverbank erosion. Of them about 0.3 million homeless and resource less people take shelter in shanty houses on river embankments, government khash lands or roads; the rest try to settle in different cities or again in their villages. It is difficult, indeed, to reduce poverty in a country where every year 1 million people i.e. 0.63 percent of the people out of 160 million people become shelter less and resource less anew.
According to the Center for Environmental and Geographic Information Services (CEGIS) forecasts the value of 4000 hectors of land and dwelling houses is about 15 billion taka. In addition the value of 14.5 kilometer roads, educational institutions, masjids, bazaars, offices etcetera is about another 15 billion taka. So, the annual total financial loss stands at about 40 billion taka which is 2 percent of the estimated national budget.
According to a study, up to May 2014 some more than five hundred homesteads and 2,500 acres of crop land in 10 villages under 4 Union Parishad of DaulotpurUpozila under Munshigonj districts vanished in the basin of River Jamuna due to riverbank erosion. This much is about the frantic dance of River Jamuna; apart from this there were so many other major and minor rivers that did similar devastations. Even though a huge amount of money is earmarked every year in the national budget for poverty eradication, but the fact is if 1 million people become destitute and poor every year, it will be impossible to wipe out poverty in a long time to come. The problems that crops up from riverbank erosion is not akin to diseases which can be cured by applying medicines or not also like one that the diseased can be released with a prescriptions, but the problem is to mend the damages that results in the form of want of food and shelters of which the affected need not have to bother before. Huge amount of money is required to be spent to rehabilitate the shelter less people anew who needs food aid also.
Moreover, apart from food, shelter they become deprived from fundamental social advantages and services such as education, health care etcetera. Even though they are initially provided with food such as rice and pulse, it is not easy to provide them with agricultural land and homesteads. Lands are required to meet the demands of homesteads for the riverbank erosion displaced people. It is not possible to provide 1 million people with lands from government khash lands every year to build dwelling houses since this much land is not there in the possession of the government. As a consequence, the only alternative to protect 1 million people from falling into the grip of poverty every year anew is to prevent riverbank erosion. Since to meet the loss caused by riverbank erosion is difficult, the only alternative solution to the problem is to prevent it.
It is necessary to apply modern technology to prevent riverbank erosion by modernizing the Water Development Board (WDB). Though the responsibility of the WDB is to supervise the construction of embankments, spurs, and hard points etcetera and to take measures so that riverbank erosion may be obstructed throughout the year, but the organization remains active mainly during the monsoon only. It is necessary to construct permanent and durable R.C.C. embankments with the help of, if necessary, foreign aid. Since the construction of permanent embankments requires huge amount of money, instead of taking temporary measures to that end the country may be saved from the loss of riverbank erosion by constructing 50 kilometers permanent and durable embankments every year instead of constructing 100 kilometers temporary embankments every year.
Such embankments will have to be build with the help of expert engineers, either local or foreign, by earmarking at least 25 billion taka at least every year in the Annual Development Plan (ADP). From the view point of expenditures for this purpose the equation stands that if the country is to be saved from a loss of 40 billion taka per year an allotment of at least half of the amount should be made for that. This will enable the country to construct permanent embankments of about 2 percent of the rivers on both sides each year so that 100 percent riverbank erosion control becomes possible within 50 years.
Appropriate planning is necessary for permanent solution of the riverbank erosion problem by considering it as a serious catastrophe and impediments to poverty alleviation programme in the country. On the other hand measures needs to be taken to distribute and allot the Char (accreted) lands resulting from riverbank erosion to the erosion affected people in due course of time. Equitable distribution of the Char lands among the erosion affected people will be obstructed if they are occupied by land grabbers, and in that case it will never be possible to eradicate poverty in the country.
Some measures to solve the problem of riverbank erosion in Bangladesh are on with external assistance at low costs. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) took up the development of riverbank protection from 2001 and recently the World Bank expressed some interest. The German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) and the Canadian International Development Agency(CIDA) finance supporting components, focusing on biodiversity and erosion prediction and warning. Specifically the ADB initiative of the Jamuna-Meghna River Erosion Mitigation Project strongly built on the experience gained through the KfW supported FAP 21/22. Continued systematic development of technologies piloted under FAP 21/22 has reduced per kilometer cost to US$2.5 million, and as such allows the stabilization of longer reaches for predominantly agricultural areas to be economically viable. As a consequence the limited “Hard Point” approach has been largely abandoned and the protection and stabilization of longer reaches is now envisaged. The outcome of the ADB financed project is an approved “Guideline for Riverbank Protection” and regular annual erosion prediction for the major rivers of Bangladesh, both building on earlier work initiated by German consultants. The ADB presently plans to continue and expand the developments of the ending Jamuna-Meghna River Erosion Mitigation Project with developments towards flood and riverbank erosion risk management in order to arrive at a more predictable river behaviour and stability for the sustainable development and poverty eradication of the ever increasing people living on the fertile floodplains.