Bangladesh is one of the disaster-prone countries in the world experienced different type of disasters almost every year because of climate change impact. River erosion is one of the major natural disasters in Bangladesh causing enormous and long term socio-economic consequences.
It is estimated that about one million people become affected each year by river bank erosion. A large number of houses, structures, trees and crops on vast tracts of land were washed away by waters. Deaths and injuries also follow on occasions. Erosion leads to an annual loss of about 10,000 hectares of land and weakens natural coastal defenses and aquatic ecosystems. Across Bangladesh thousands of families have been rendered homeless because of river erosion.
They are not only homeless; river took away their existence. Shelter, security, memories and belongings everything they have had is lost. River erosion compels people to migrate or leave their place of origin and destroys the livelihood, cultural heritage and social fabric of entire communities with dangerous consequences for the future of the whole communities. When they are displaced from their birth places they become disconnected from their sources of income, land, food production and other livelihood option, which forces them to engage in new livelihood activities. River erosion makes poor people poor again and rural people become urban poor. And poverty is the worst outcomes of river erosion. People are being lift out the way of life on the brink of extinction.
