Dhaka, Dec 14 (The New Age): The adverse impacts of climate change have forced the mighty rivers of
Brahmaputra, Teesta and their tributaries to dry up abnormally much
ahead of the dry season.
The Brahmaputra has now the lowest water
flow in some narrower channels causing emergence of many shoals
hampering navigability, irrigation, ecology, environment, bio-diversity
and lowering of underground water level in northern Bangladesh.
At
the same time, the Teesta has mostly dried up allowing its vast bed to
wear a deserted look with only sand and the landless riverside
distressed people have cultivated various crops on its beds this time
like in the previous years.
Agriculture and Environment Coordinator
of Rangpur Dinajpur Rural Service (RDRS) Bangladesh Mamunur Rashid said
the century-old civilization on the Brahmaputra basin, irrigation,
navigation, ecology and bio-diversity have been posed to a formidable
threat causing grave concern for all.
According to local sources, the
riverside people have been cultivating maize, Boro, ground nut,
‘china’, ‘kawn’, pulses, mustard, ‘gunji till’, wheat, tobacco,
watermelon and other crops on vast tracts of sandy bed of these dried-up
riverbeds now.
Crop farming began long ago as the rivers dry up
abnormally every year during dry seasons in Kurigram, Gaibandha,
Nilphamari, Lalmonirhat, Rangpur, Bogra, Jamalpur and Sirajganj
districts, said Nurul Amin Sarker of Chilmari and Abdul Wahed of Kawnia.
Taramon
Bibi, Bir Pratik, said it takes four hours in crossing the 25 km
river-route from Chilmari to Rajibpur or Roumari by engine driven boat
as the water vessels slowly move through huge zigzag channels due to
appearance of hundreds of submerged shoals.
There were incidents of
collisions between boats carrying passengers with goods and hundreds of
passengers were stranded on the Brahmaputra as their boats were hit by
the submerged shoals especially at nights in recent weeks, she added.
Chilmari
upazila chairman Shawkat Ali Sarker, Bir Bikram, said movement of
engine driven boats on all routes to and from 30 river ghats in
Kurigram, Gaibandha and Jamalpur have become risky now due to emergence
of shoals in the Brahmaputra.
Executive Engineer of the Water
Development Board Rezaul Mostafa Asafuddowla said hundreds of shoals
have emerged on the Brahmaputra beds while the water flows become
thinner to flow through some narrower channels now.
Associate
Director Agriculture of BRAC International (South Asia & Africa) Dr M
A Mazid said such adverse situation has changed the overall climate
forcing the region prone to more natural calamities and experience
extreme cold and heat in recent times.
Droughts, flash floods and
massive erosions are occurring almost every year due to unbridled rise
of riverbeds from abnormal deposition of silts as a result of climate
change impacts, said Consultant of International Rice Research Institute
(IRRI) in Bangladesh MG Neogi.
The experts apprehended that if this
trend continues unabated, the process of desertification would further
be accelerated in the northern region and agriculture might be the worst
affected sector.
They also suggested a regional cooperation and
planning involving all countries including India and China to cope with
the changing situation along the Brahmaputra and Teesta basins like in
the other regions of the country.