70pc land lost to Jamuna

Abu Bakkar Mollah, 50, used to be a solvent farmer once, cultivating crops and vegetables all year round on a considerable expanse of arable land in Sirajganj.

However, in a span of three decades, Bakkar lost everything to Jamuna river erosion and has become homeless, destitute.

"My three brothers and I together owned around 50 bighas of land, business establishments, and cattle farms. Our family was happy and thriving. But the Jamuna has devoured everything we had," said Bakkar, a resident of Pakhrail village under Chowhali.

Bakkar, now a day-labourer,  rents a small land in Tangail's Tebaria village with his family while his brothers also relocated elsewhere with their families.

River erosion left around 50,000 people from 50 villages homeless in the last 20 years, said Chowhali UP chairman Md Faruk Hossain.

Upazila administration revealed the area of Chowhali upazila was around 210 square kilometres in 2011, but now around 70 percent of the land has been lost to the river.

The river erosion has severely affected people's lives and livelihoods, education, road communications, agricultural production, and trade and business.

"A few decades ago, we had 73 kilometres of concrete roads made by the LGED, which has now been reduced to 30 kilometres due to erosion," said Md Sirajul Islam, Chowhali upazila LGED engineer.

All government offices at the upazila level -- including health  and UNO offices -- have been lost to erosion and are operating in makeshift structures.

As such, many people are not getting proper access to the government services, including healthcare facilities.

"River erosion began after the 1998 flood but took a severe turn in 2010," said Md Mosharaff Hossain of Char Salimabad village, who lost his home, cropland, and grocery shop to Jamuna in July this year.

Md Milton Hossain, sub-divisional engineer of Water Development Board in Sirajganj, said they dumped sandbags on the river bank to prevent erosion temporarily.

The government plans to construct a permanent embankment to prevent river erosion, he added.