Ground water level in north, eastern dists falls by 10 feet
Tuesday, 1 December 2009
Mashiur Rahaman
The ground water level in the country's north and eastern districts has fallen by about 10 feet over the last one decade as a result of declining river flows threatening the lives of millions in the region, a study conducted by Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS) revealed.
"The fall in groundwater level has been witnessed in most of the wells along side the river banks of the Ganges, the Mohananda and the Gorai-Madhumati," the study revealed.
The study has also identified that impact of declining ground water is maximum in the districts of Rajshahi and Pabna followed by Kushtia and Jessore adding that quality of ground water has also deteriorated threatening lives of millions across the region.
Experts however blamed the rapidly drying of Gongotry Glacier which is the source of the country's two prime rivers the Ganges, the Brahmaputra, as the prime reason behind this declining water level in our ground, experts explained.
Quoting a recent report by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), experts said that about 67 per cent of the Himalayan glaciers are melting at a startling rate and 'the major causal factor has been identified as climate change'.
Annual ground water produced in Bangladesh is 21.09 km3/year and the surface water is 83.91km3/year. Nearly 97 per cent people are dependent on groundwater sources.
The Khumbu Glacier has retreated more than five kilometers since 1953. The 30km Gangotri has been receding over the last three decades at more than three times the rate than it had during the previous two centuries. Besides, Nepal's Rika Samba is retreating at 10metre per year, the study quoted.
The population of riverine Bangladesh is largely dependent on ground water that provide drinking water, sustains agriculture, forestry, fisheries and inland navigation, helps to operate a quarter of the county's industrial activities, prevents salinity intrusion from the Bay of Bengal and plays the most significant role to maintain the ecology and bio-diversity of the country.
"The impact of water scarcity would have a major impact on individual life and on the country as well. From a drastic drop in annual crops production to disease outbreak, the declining drying out ground water would bring the country's economy to its bottom," Anwar Hossain, Principal Scientific Officer of Salinity Management and Research Centre told the FE.
The impact of climate change on Bangladesh economy would be extremely adverse: an annual loss to the tune of $1.0 billion of GDP by 2010, $5.0 billion by 2070 is estimated, the report added.
Nearly 80 million people out of the 150 population are exposed to aquifer contamination caused by arsenic that has gained pace by the growing ground water scarcity.
The ground water level in the country's north and eastern districts has fallen by about 10 feet over the last one decade as a result of declining river flows threatening the lives of millions in the region, a study conducted by Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS) revealed.
"The fall in groundwater level has been witnessed in most of the wells along side the river banks of the Ganges, the Mohananda and the Gorai-Madhumati," the study revealed.
The study has also identified that impact of declining ground water is maximum in the districts of Rajshahi and Pabna followed by Kushtia and Jessore adding that quality of ground water has also deteriorated threatening lives of millions across the region.
Experts however blamed the rapidly drying of Gongotry Glacier which is the source of the country's two prime rivers the Ganges, the Brahmaputra, as the prime reason behind this declining water level in our ground, experts explained.
Quoting a recent report by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), experts said that about 67 per cent of the Himalayan glaciers are melting at a startling rate and 'the major causal factor has been identified as climate change'.
Annual ground water produced in Bangladesh is 21.09 km3/year and the surface water is 83.91km3/year. Nearly 97 per cent people are dependent on groundwater sources.
The Khumbu Glacier has retreated more than five kilometers since 1953. The 30km Gangotri has been receding over the last three decades at more than three times the rate than it had during the previous two centuries. Besides, Nepal's Rika Samba is retreating at 10metre per year, the study quoted.
The population of riverine Bangladesh is largely dependent on ground water that provide drinking water, sustains agriculture, forestry, fisheries and inland navigation, helps to operate a quarter of the county's industrial activities, prevents salinity intrusion from the Bay of Bengal and plays the most significant role to maintain the ecology and bio-diversity of the country.
"The impact of water scarcity would have a major impact on individual life and on the country as well. From a drastic drop in annual crops production to disease outbreak, the declining drying out ground water would bring the country's economy to its bottom," Anwar Hossain, Principal Scientific Officer of Salinity Management and Research Centre told the FE.
The impact of climate change on Bangladesh economy would be extremely adverse: an annual loss to the tune of $1.0 billion of GDP by 2010, $5.0 billion by 2070 is estimated, the report added.
Nearly 80 million people out of the 150 population are exposed to aquifer contamination caused by arsenic that has gained pace by the growing ground water scarcity.