Nearly 12,000 people in Bangladesh’s remote Dhalchar Union remain without an embankment, leaving homes, crops and livestock exposed to worsening cyclones, tidal surges and rising sea levels.
Around 12,000 residents of Dhalchar Union in southern Bangladesh continue to live without a protective embankment leaving the area highly vulnerable to high tides storm surges and cyclones. Experts warn that rising sea levels and more frequent cyclones due to climate change are increasing the risk for low-lying coastal areas like Dhalchar making protective infrastructure more urgent than ever.
Dhalchar Union is located at the estuary where the Meghna River meets the Bay of Bengal in the southernmost part of Char Fasson Upazila Bhola District. Although people have lived here for over a century and the union was officially formed around 2010 residents say development has barely reached the area.
Large parts of Dhalchar are submerged during high tides and cyclonic surges. Houses livestock and croplands are frequently damaged leaving residents stranded in water for days. Storms and flooding have repeatedly destroyed property and threatened lives.
Residents speak: livelihoods at risk
Md Hossain a resident of Anand Bazar said people had settled in Dhalchar even before the 1970 cyclone and floods. “Now nearly 12,000 people live in nine wards of Dhalchar but we still have no embankment to protect us,” he said.
Md Al Amin from Fish Char Bazar added “If there was an embankment our situation would not be like this. The upcoming monsoon season will likely bring more suffering.”
Ankura Begum a homemaker from Tarua village described how tidal water often floods homes. “When water enters the house we sit together on the bed to stay dry. Last year three of our goats and several chickens were swept away,” she said.
Md Shahe Alam Faraji a businessman from Majher Char Bazar noted that Dhalchar is the southernmost inhabited area of Bhola District. “Beyond it lies only open water. Storms and floods have repeatedly caused loss of life and livestock here,” he said.
Residents say successive governments promised an embankment but the project has yet to materialize.
Authorities plan concrete embankment
Md Asfauddaula executive engineer of the Bangladesh Water Development Board in Bhola confirmed that the area experiences erosion and flooding during the rainy season.
He said a concrete block embankment is necessary to protect Dhalchar but no project has yet been approved. “We are trying to initiate a project that could address the long-standing problem faced by the coastal community,” he said.
