Suitable Environment

Causes of Flooding in Bangladesh

Posted in Causes of the Flooding in Bangladesh, Environmental Issue, Floods In Bangladesh, Geography, Population by Khaled Saifullah on March 27, 2009


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo: CGZ

Bangladesh is one of the world most densely populated country and one of the most susceptible countries to flood disasters. It also has one of the three most powerful rivers passing though it Ganges, Meghna and Brahmaputra. About one half of the land area in Bangladesh is at an elevation of less than 8 meters above sea level.  Up to 30% of the country has been covered with flood waters.  In 1991 more 200,000 deaths resulted from flooding and associated tropical cyclones.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo: USAID

There are many physical and human causes that allowed the floods to be worse; such as:

The Physical Causes of the Floods:

  • Most of the country consists of a huge flood plain and delta.
  • Snowmelt from the Himalayas takes place in late spring & summer.
  • 70% of the total area is less than 1 meter above sea level.
  • 10% of the land area is made up of Lakes and Rivers.
  • Bangladesh experiences heavy monsoon rains, especially over the highlands.
  • Tropical storms bring heavy rains and coastal flooding.
  • The main cause was the above average & long period of heavy rain which caused all 3 rivers to have their peak flow at the same time.
  • In the spring, melting snow from the Himalayas further increases the flood risks as torrents of melt water enter the rivers at their source.

The Human Causes of the Floods:

  • Deforestation in Nepal and the Himalayas increases run off and add to deposition and flooding downstream.
  • Urbanization of the flood plain has increased magnitude & frequency of floods.
  • Global warming is blamed for sea level rise, increased snow melt & increased rainfall in the region.
  • The building of dams in India has increased the problem of sedimentation in Bangladesh.
  • Poorly maintained embankments (levees) leak & collapse in times of high discharge.
  • Increasing population pressure in Bangladesh itself has resulted in the sinking of many new wells resulting in the lowering of the water table and the subsequent subsidence of land making it even more prone to flooding.

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21 comments

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  1. Azmi said, on March 28, 2009 at 1:32 am

    Bangladesh can be flood free if we take the silt from the water bed of the rivers and deposit it in the Bay of Bengal. In doing so, we’ll be able to lower the level of water and in the monsoon season it won’t flood saving hundreds of millions of dollars of damages.

  2. fojail ahmed nohel said, on March 31, 2009 at 11:10 pm

    you comes up with a good piece of work..this post will help us to understand more about it..

  3. Nuruz Zaman said, on May 5, 2009 at 9:40 am

    Thanks for the report. it’s very good and clear.

    I think the Government can use the flood to our advantage if they got their head together and thought of longer term rather than just their time in office.

    What they can do is invest in lots of drerdgers to dig all the rivers and esturies and place the soils on river banks. This will allow space for the water that could be retained for longer to be used in farming.

    This will also alow fish stock to grow which people could live of for all throught the year.

    This type of thinking and strategies are called “Sustainable Developments”, Unfortunately our government are not aware of them,,,,,I think.

    If you want do discuss more please contat me. I have done a study on the “cause and effect of the flooding in Bangladesh”.

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  5. Harro coolie said, on May 27, 2009 at 4:46 am

    Hey great website, was very useful for my upcoming Geography exam.
    Cheers Harro

  6. freas decompasision said, on June 8, 2009 at 1:19 pm

    water will rise

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  13. Eprocurement software said, on October 19, 2009 at 4:13 am

    Climate change was the topic of BloG AcTioN Day last October 15, 2009. As you surf the internet today, you will still see so many articles about global warming. People are really affected now. So i guess, this post has been very timely. Let me share my own calamitous story – About three weeks ago, we were hit by two very strong storms. We never had that in decades. They left our country with still so many flooded areas, a lot were homeless and lost so many loved ones. Until now, we are still sweeping the streets from mud and tons of ruined appliances drowned from the flood. The effects of those twin storm were devastating. It’s not wet season for us here, but we we were informed that we are still expecting four more storms on this last quarter of the year. And just this morning, local news says, weeks from now, we are expecting a strong earthquake to hit the metro city including the nearby provinces. This is the same Metro city hit by the twin storms. And the news says its all because of global warming/climate change. I’m blithely about the issue before, but when the twin storm hit us plus all the bad news, I thought, I must do something too. To solve the global warming problem, it must be stormed at the national and international levels.But the total success is built upon the action of every individual, regardless of nationality, to conserve energy and live in a greener, cleaner community. Thank you for this post. I kinda like the illustration. Happy Blog Action weEk! :-)

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  17. T-fA said, on January 11, 2010 at 7:05 pm

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  19. crankit12 said, on January 13, 2010 at 11:12 am

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  20. monojit saha said, on January 24, 2010 at 4:27 am

    very good approach the country needs this kind of steps to its way in development!

  21. Anthony said, on February 3, 2010 at 5:29 pm

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