Dhalchar (An iland of Bay of Bengal) is gradually disappearing from the map of Bangladesh
The coastal island of Dhalchar is slowly disappearing from the map of Bangladesh. Experts say the erosion rate of the Meghna River is increasing due to climate change, leaving thousands of people in danger of becoming refugees.
Dhalchar is a small island in the Bay of Bengal where the Meghna merges with the south of Bangladesh. The island is eroding today.
Halima Bibi, a resident of the island, is making the stove. The rest of the tidying up before the end. She shares her fear saying, I have to leave my house where I have spent the last one and half decades of my life. The river is flowing near my house.
I can’t stay here any longer. I am scared and unable to sleep at night due to the roaring sound of the waves. All the houses on the other side have been demolished. There are only two or three left. “
People have lived on this island for more than five decades. Halima is a very early resident and had lost her house in the past too. Another resident, Alauddin, who has lived on this island for the last 47 years, also shared that he lost due to sea erosion.
He claimed the sea swallowed his three acres of land. He later added that he had moved with his family when the erosion started. Now Alauddin lives at the other end of the char (Iland). However, he does not know how long he can stay there.
Climate change has led to increased coastal flooding, erosion, and rising sea levels. Therefore, the risk has increased on the entire coast of Bangladesh.
There are various initiatives of the authorities, including the water development board, to protect the coast. However, there is no clear initiative to save the islands like Dhalchar.
In this regard, Fazlur Rashid, the Director-General of the Bangladesh Water Development Board, said, “We will take measures to prevent further erosion.
Moreover, in the rear and the borders, if we can consider climate change and build dams, we can prevent erosion and make it not disappear from the map of Bangladesh.”
Mr. Salimul Haque, the renewed Climate expert, said, “We must accept that in some areas, we cannot stop it. The saltwater of the sea will come in, and the people there will not be able to live there. They have to leave. We have to think about where they are going.”
