Bangladesh is the largest deltaic floodplain in the world with a total area of

147570 km2 of which 88892 km2 is occupied by major rivers and estuaries.

Bangladesh is a South Asian developing country of low deltaic plain located between 20034/ to 26038/
North latitude and 88001/ to 92042/ East longitude. Geologically it is a part of the Bengal Basin filled by
sediments washed down from the highlands on three sides of it, especially from the Himalayas where the
slopes are steeper and the rocks less consolidated. It is bordered on the west, north and east by India, on
the southeast by Myanmar and on the south by the Bay of Bengal. The whole country consists of low and
flat land formed mainly by the Ganges and the Brahmaputra River systems except for the hilly regions in
the north-eastern and south -eastern parts. The key features of Bangladesh are as follows:
Total Area: 147,570 km2 (Land: 81%; Forest: 13.4%, Water body: 5.6%)
Land Area: 119,624 km2 (Floodplain: 80%; Hill: 12%; Terrace: 8%)
Population: 130 million (Average density: 880 persons/sq. km in 2003)
Area of coastal zone: 47,201 km2 (32% of land area of Bangladesh)
Population in coastal zone: 35.1 million (27% of total population)
Length of the coast: 710 km

The major rivers such as the Jamuna, Ganges and Padma annually consume several thousand hectares of floodplain making
thousands of people landless and homeless every year. Along with the floodplain Bangladesh loses several kilometer of roads and
railways, and flood embankments annually. A number of cities and towns such as Chandpur, Rajshahi and Faridpur are also
threatened
by
erosion.
During the last three decades The Jamuna, Ganges and Padma rivers have consumed 180,000 ha. This amount excludes the
annual erosion along the other major rivers and also in the Meghna estuary where the amount of erosion was also very high. The
rate of erosion along the major rivers may vary from one period to other.
From the 1970s to early the 1990s, the extent of mean annual erosion was about 3,300 hectares along both banks of the Jamuna
River. During the last decade erosion along the river seems to have diminished slightly ranging from 1,000 to 2,500 hectare per
year. The mean annual erosion along the Padma River was 1,400 ha/year, while it increased to 2200 ha/year in 1990s. The mean
annual rate of erosion along the Ganges almost remains the same over the last 3 decades.
BWDB with its limited resources are trying to protect different cities and important locations from riverbank erosion. BWDB has been
protecting Sirajganj, Rajshahi and Chandpur towns against the severe attack of the Jamuna, Ganges and Meghna for the last
several decades. But it appears to be a tiny effort if we compare it with the extent of erosion vulnerable areas. Several hundred
kilometers of riverbank is remained vulnerable to erosion.
Given the geo-morphological development of the rivers and the prevailing socio-economic context of Bangladesh, it would not be
feasible to protect the riverbank erosion fully. In such a situation, non-structural measures, like the prediction of erosion when and
where applicable could be an alternative to minimize the suffering of the people and national loses of erosion. Under the framework
of EMIN project BWDB is now trying to institutionalize the prediction of erosion.