Widespread Brahmaputra River Erosion Hits Kurigram

Surrounded by her four children, Minara Begum sat staring blankly at the edge of her crumbling homestead. The open sky served as her roof, while a small pile of salvaged corrugated iron sheets lay beside her. Four years ago, the ferocious erosion of the Teesta River swallowed her ancestral home. Now, the Brahmaputra has devoured her final sanctuary. Breaking her silence with a heavy sigh, she lamented in her regional dialect that she was yet to find a permanent place to lay her head.

The Endless Cycle of Displacement

Minara Begum, 55, and her husband, Saiful Islam, 60, originally owned a modest home on a river island in the Sundarganj Upazila of Gaibandha district. When the Teesta washed away their livelihoods, they sought refuge in an Ashrayan government housing project on the Koraibarishal island of Kurigram’s Chilmari Upazila, sharing a room with Minara’s sister. Three days ago, the Brahmaputra claimed that very building.

The family now spends their days and nights in the open air. Saiful, an agricultural labourer who supplements his meagre income by catching fish during the peak season, possesses no land or property. Their life has become a relentless journey of relying on the hospitality of others.

Tears welled in Minara’s eyes as she recalled her bureaucratic struggles. Since arriving on the island, she has repeatedly tried to register as a local voter. She explained that because they are poor and could not afford bribes, her registration was never processed. This lack of documentation has had severe consequences; when emergency relief was distributed to flood victims on Tuesday, Minara’s family was excluded simply because they lacked national identity cards.

Rapid Destruction of Island Communities

A physical inspection of the Koraibarishal and Shakhahati river islands on Wednesday afternoon revealed a perilous situation. Torrential upstream waters have generated powerful currents in the Brahmaputra, driving the erosion straight into the Bisharpara Ashrayan housing scheme. Seven electricity pylons adjacent to the project have already plunged into the riverbed. Over the past week alone, at least 70 families residing on these two islands have lost their homes.

Ataur Rahman, 35, a resident of Shakhahati island, shared a similar plight. The river swallowed his house on Sunday, forcing him to shelter with his young child on a neighbour’s veranda. Building a new home on these temporary river islands requires entering into land lease agreements that cost nearly 100,000 Taka, an amount entirely beyond his financial reach.

Regional Crisis and Regulatory Roadblocks

Persistent heavy rainfall combined with an influx of water from upstream catchments has swollen the Dharla, Teesta, Dudhkumar, and Brahmaputra rivers. This has triggered bank erosion at more than 40 separate locations across Kurigram district, with the islands of Chilmari Upazila suffering the most severe damage. Vital community infrastructure is now under threat, including a government primary school, the island’s solitary lower-secondary school, and the local Koraibarishal market.

Rakibul Hasan, an executive engineer with the Kurigram Water Development Board, stated that emergency mitigation work is currently underway at roughly 30 vulnerable sites. However, he noted that standard policy guidelines prevent the deployment of protective geo-textile bags on the Shakhahati and Koraibarishal islands due to their isolated location in the absolute centre of the river channel.

The Chilmari Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO), Mahmudul Hasan, confirmed that the sub-district administration has already distributed emergency rice rations and dry food to the 70 affected families across the Shakhahati, Koraibarishal, and Bisharchar areas. He emphasised that local officials are maintaining constant communication with engineering teams to find alternative ways to stabilise the crumbling riverbanks.