BangladeshRiver erosion, new chars, sandy soils and an uncertain flood season shape farming in AEZ-07, a belt of about 319,000 hectares from Kurigram to Manikganj. Satellite images and digital farm advice can help, but only when they are tested against what happens in farmers' fields.
CropsErosion by the Teesta at Hatibandha, Lalmonirhat, and Gangachara, Rangpur, has swallowed 27 families' homes in a week and at least 50 acres of farmland with standing aman; farmers have cut 17.5 bighas of unripe rice to feed their cattle before the land goes.
In Nimtala, Godagari, Golam Rasul has lost his land, orchards and half his brick house to Padma erosion; of 188 families hit by erosion in the upazila over five years, only 91 have received help.
As the water falls and the current strengthens, at least 350 homes and hundreds of bighas of cropland at Namojagannathpur and Badshahpara have gone into the Padma; the water board says work on a Tk 748 crore project will start once the water drops.
EnvironmentThe fronts of the Shaharabari and Baniajan spurs, built for Tk 6 crore in 2003 in Bhandarbari, Bogura, have collapsed and erosion is nearing the flood embankment; the WDB says a Tk 60 crore project awaits funding.
EnvironmentA Water Development Board embankment at Botbunia collapsed on Sunday, flooding the area; residents say three decades of erosion have taken homes and about 300 bighas of farmland.
EnvironmentEven as the water falls, the Padma and Arial Khan are swallowing homes and cropland in Sadarpur, Faridpur, and farmers are cutting half-ripe paddy as cattle feed before the river takes it.
GalleryFrom the photographs Prothom Alo's photographers took across the country on 10 October, a few moments from the fields, rivers and villages.
EnvironmentMuch of the West Deuri government primary school and cyclone shelter in Jhalokathi Sadar has fallen into the Bishkhali river and the rest is at risk, while riverside homes and farmland face the same erosion.
EnvironmentReviewing the Water Development Board and WARPO, the Committee on Public Undertakings urged sediment management, a review of dredging, fewer deep tube-wells in stressed areas and one policy for canal digging.
EnvironmentA day after cracks appeared near Sureshwar fish market in Naria, Shariatpur, about 20 metres of the three-year-old Padma bank-protection embankment slid into the river on Thursday evening.
Riverbank erosion in Sirajganj, Shariatpur, Sherpur and Faridpur is taking homes, schools, mosques and cropland; locals in one Shahjadpur union say about 3,000 bighas of farmland have gone into the Jamuna.
The crack appeared before dawn on Wednesday at the Sureshwar fish landing in Shariatpur; the UNO and Water Development Board officials have inspected the site.
