A shifting Padma River channel and severe erosion have heightened fears among riverside communities in Munshiganj. Continuous erosion involving the Padma, Meghna, Dhaleshwari and Ichhamati has swallowed more than 50 square kilometres of the district, according to the report. Local residents say more than 100,000 people from 20,000 families have lost their belongings, with property losses exceeding Tk1,500 crore.

Erosion began at the start of this monsoon season at Tongibari’s 200-year-old Dighirpar Bazar. Near Gaondia Bazar in Louhajang, about 200 metres of blocks on a roughly 500-metre permanent river-defense embankment collapsed into the river within two months of construction. Many families moved their homes, while the Bangladesh Water Development Board used geobags and concrete blocks to bring the situation under control.

Executive Engineer Akhlak Ul Jamil said the Padma’s main channel now flows through an area that was previously a branch channel, causing erosion there. He said defense designs must be regularly reviewed using updated hydraulic and morphological data. The board said it has placed 12,000 geobags in Purbarakhi and 18,000 in Shambhu Haldarkandi to curb erosion.