Around 2,428 hectares of cultivable land and 413 hectares of settlement on the banks of Jamuna, Ganges and Padma rivers will disappear due to erosion this year.Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) and Center for Environmental and Geographic Information Services (CEGIS) have made the prediction through analysing satellite images.

BWDB has started protective works in several vulnerable areas on both banks of Jamuna, Ganges and Padma but river erosion has turned serious in many places including Sariakandi and Dhunat upazilas of Bogra district, said AKM Momtaz Uddin, executive engineer of BWDB, Bogra.cultivable land along with 50,339 hectares of settlement were eroded due to erosion by Jamuna, Ganges and Padma rivers during the period from 1973 to 2011.

In 2010, the rivers Jamuna, Ganges and Padma eroded more than 3,047 hectares of cultivable land and 332 hectares of settlements with 15 establishments including two health centres. At least 48 establishments including 35 educational institutions and two health centres are vulnerable to erosion along the Jamuna and Padma rivers. About 23,100 people on the riverbanks lost their shelter due to erosion in the last year, BWDB sources said.

BWDB and CEGIS predict that 24,270 people will become homeless and landless due to the erosion of the three rivers this year. The highest 18,000 people on the bank of the Jamuna will become landless and homeless this year.

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