Int. J. Econ. Environ. Geol. Vol.

Khaledaet
13 (2) 42-46, 2022
al. /[Link]. 13(2) 42-46, 2022 Open Access
Journal home page: [Link] ISSN: 2223-957X
c

Land Degradation Due to Jamuna Riverbank Erosion: A Case Study at Shahjadpur,

Sirajganj District, Bangladesh
Afrin Khaleda1, Haque Md. Nazwanul2, Islam Syed Nazrul3, Roy Rintu1, Shakik Minhazul Abedin1
Geological Survey of Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh

* Email: kafrin25@[Link]

Abstract: Climate Change in Bangladesh is an extremely crucial issue. Bangladesh is one of the worstly affected
countries by the impacts of Climate Change in coming decades. The climate change in Bangladesh causes the degradation
of land resources. High intensity and recurrence of floods are due to irregular rainfall and glacier melting of the Himalayas
intensified river bank erosion throughout the year. High yielding land resources on the river bank are degraded each year.
This study was conducted for riverbank shifting detection, morphodynamics assessment, and estimation of eroded and
accreted land by the Jamuna river at Shahjadpurupazila, Sirajganj district, Bangladesh. The investigation is based on
multispectral satellite imagery interpretations using ArcGIS software, followed by a field check. Interpretations show
that the Jamuna river in the study area has continuously shifted its path from east to west from 1956 to 2020, resulting in
a total loss of 51.68 km2 of landmass. The rate of engulfment was 0.95km2/year whereas the accretion rate was
0.15km2/year. The maximum rate of river shifting on the right bank of Jamuna river in the ShahjadpurUpazila is 84.38
meters/year and the minimum shifting is 31.25 meters/year. This study will help to understand the scenario of land
degradation by river erosion in the study area. It may be also helpful to the decision-makers to take the proper mitigation
measures regarding riverbank erosion and protection.

Keywords: Degradation, climate change, ArcGIS, river shifting.

Introduction to estimate decade interval accretion and erosion of new

bank and bar formations.
Bangladesh is one of the world's most climate-
vulnerable nations. It is also one of the most flood-prone Materials and Methods
countries because of its geographical location. Recently, Different multispectral satellite imagery (SPOT,
floods have become a frequent occurrence and millions Landsat-MSS, Landsat-TM, Landsat-ETM+ Rapid Eye,
of hectares of land are flooded every year, causing Google Earth) were analyzed to extract the data for base
riverbank erosion and land degradation in the country. map and river shifting analyses. The river flow path of
The Jamuna has experienced an expansion of flow over the different periods had been extracted using image
the years. Heavy rain on its catchment area and water analyses and GIS operation. The erosional and
level rising by extreme snowmelt will increase accretional area of the river is determined by analyzing
discharge in future years due to current global warming the derivative maps.
(Rajib et al., 2011). The Jamuna river is one of the three
main rivers of Bangladesh. It is not a consistent river, as Results and Discussion
its width varies in dry seasons and heavy rainfall The study area comprises Holocene sediments of old
seasons. The observation of Bristlow (1987) from Jamuma-Brahmaputra-Karatoa floodplain deposits. The
satellite images suggested that the yearly volume of area is mainly characterized by deposition and severe
erosion and deposition in the Jamuna is the function of erosion of the Jamuna river. Numerous channels flow
the high discharge and the duration of discharge. over the area and drained the flood water to the Jamuna.
The satellite remote sensing and GIS technique was The area is mainly composed of silty clay, clayey silt,
used to examine fluvial channel migration and identify silt, and sand.
paleo-braided channels on terrace surfaces and also to From the analyses of satellite images with the help of
investigate the long-term trends and rates of bank ArcGIS, it was found that there is a significant amount
degradation and accretion. The work was carried out of bank shifting that occurred during this period. In the
based on a topographic map and multispectral satellite last 64 years, the Jamuna river has shifted from east to
image analyses from the 1950’s up to the recent period west in the study area (Fig. 2) Study shows that the
followed by field investigations. shifting is abnormal because it has no direction of
The study area lies in the north-western part of erosion. The flow of the rivers varies over a wide range
Bangladesh under Shahjadpurupazila, Sirajganj district. of magnitude. It can rapidly shift laterally cutting out
It lies between latitude 24o 03/N and 24o16/N and old sand bars, forming new ones, and changing the flow
longitude 89031/E and 89046/E (Fig. 1). The total studied alignment.
area is about 324 km². The objective of this study is to In the study area, both of the river banks have been
find out decade interval bank and bar shifting maps and shifted frequently (Fig. 3). A total of 9.41 km2 area has
been accreted by the river in this Upazila from 1956 to
Copyright © SEGMITE
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2020, whereas it is engulfed 61.09 km2 areas (Table 1). observed that many areas of the right bank in
The total loss of the landmass by the Jamuna river Shahjadpurupazila are affected by erosion. Although
erosion in this Upazila is 51.68 km2 during the period. some embankment measures have been taken to protect
The rate of engulfment from 1956 to 2020 was 0.95 km2 the bank, the base erosion of the bank is intensified by
/year whereas the accretion rate was 0.15km2/year. Most impinging of flow which diverts the adjacent channel
of the land accreted during the 1990-1995 year interval bar and hence the failure occurred in the protecting
in which the accreted area was 7.31 km2. On the other bank.
hand land, the maximum land engulfed was during the
1995-2000 year interval in which the engulfed area was
7.74 km2 (Fig. 7.4). The maximum rate of river shifting
on the right bank of Jamuna river in the Upazila is 84.38
meters/year and the minimum shifting is 31.25
meters/year.

Fig. 2 Jamuna river area in 1956 and 2020

Fig. 1 Location map of Shahjadpurupazila, Sirajganj district.

The Jamuna river is considered a braided river

consisting of several channels separated by small
islands in their courses. During the monsoon, extensive
overbank spills, bank erosion, and bank line shifts are
typical. The gradual migration or shifting of channels of
the rivers engraved the resources of people who lived
near the bank (Fig. 4,5). The intensity of bank erosion
varies widely. The rapid recession of floods accelerates
the rates of bank erosion in such materials. The Jamuna
river bank materials are highly susceptible to erosion.
Rivers constantly alter their course, changing shape and
depth, trying to find a balance between the sediment
transport capacity of the water and the sediment supply.
Jamuna riverbank erosion has many consequences Fig. 3 Bankline of the Jamuna River from 1956 to 2020 in the study
including the sequential loss of land and accretion of area.
land (Fig. 6, 7). During the field investigation, it is

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permanently brings about thousands of people homeless

and landless every year causing tremendous suffering
(Hossain, 1993).

Fig. 4 Channel shifting map from 1956 to 1977. Fig. 6 Land accretion by the Jamuna River from 1990 to 2020.

Fig. 7 Land engulfment in the study area from 1956 to 2020

Riverbank erosion generally occurs at the outer banks of

Fig. 5 Channel shifting map from 2015 to 2020. flanking meandering channels and the rate of bank
erosion largely depends on the characteristics of bank
Morphodynamics of meandering channels plays an materials (Leopold and Wolman, 1957; Coleman,
important role in sedimentation patterns and processes 1969). Developments like sand mining, infrastructure
(Nanson and Beach, 1977) in floodplain environments. building on the riverbank, artificial cutoffs, bank
The dynamic feature of the river causes riverbank revetment and land use alterations have changed the
erosion, a devastating natural hazard in Bangladesh that natural geomorphological dynamics of rivers (Lane and
Richards, 1997; Surian, 1999; Rinaldi, 2003).

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Table 1. Accreted and engulfed landmass by the Jamuna river in the

study area from 1956 to 2020.
Accreted Rate of Rate of
Year Engulfed
Area Accretion Engulfment
Interval Area (km2)
(km2) (km2/year) (km2/year)
1956-
- 15.93 - 0.76
1977
1977-
- 17.33 - 1.33
1990
1990-
7.31 3.13 1.46 0.63
1995
1995-
0.21 7.74 0.04 1.55
2000
2000-
0.09 7.52 0.02 1.50
2005
2005-
0.16 6.43 0.03 1.23
2010
2010-
0.31 1.40 0.06 0.28
2015
2015-
1.33 1.61 0.27 0.32
2020
Total 09.41 61.09

Fig. 9 River-bar dynamics of Jamuna River from 2015 to 2020.

The behaviour of the Jamuna is continuously changing,

the productive agricultural land in the bank area is
degraded into unproductive bars and river areas. For this
reason, estimated the distribution of land, river, and bar
area including their conversion to land and land to the
river to obtain present river and bank status (Table 2,
Fig. 8, 9).
Conclusion
Bank erosion is the most common problem in the study
area. Productive agricultural land in the bank area is
decorated each year. It has a serious impact on the
people who are living in and around the bank area. The
riverbank continuously has changed its course from East
to West during 1956 to 2020. A total of 09.41 km2 areas
are accreted by the river in this upazila, whereas it
Fig. 8 River-bar dynamics of Jamuna River from 1956 to 1977. engulfed 61.09 km2 area. The total loss of the landmass
Table 2. Land, river, old bar and Sandflat areas in the
by the Jamuna river in this upazila is 51.68 km2 during
Shahjadpurupazila from 1956 to 2020 that period. The rate of engulfment from 1956 to 2020
was 0.95km2/year whereas the accretion rate was 0.15
Old km2/year. The maximum rate of river shifting on the
Year Land River Sandflat right bank of Jamuna river is 84.38 meters/year and the
Bar
1956 301.55 10.01 05.72 05.92 minimum shifting is 31.25 meters/year.
1977 284.96 11.39 16.59 10.26 To mitigate erosion propensity have to adopt protection
1990 263.46 13.92 18.15 27.64 planning following geological suitability and
morphological characteristics along with the plane form
1995 267.86 12.51 18.20 24.62
evolution of Jamuna river. It is necessary to understand
2000 260.28 25.04 19.64 18.23 the dynamic and complex geological and morphological
2005 252.79 24.92 30.80 14.67 processes of the Jamuna river. For the planning of the
2010 246.56 17.36 32.35 09.98 Jamuna river bank protection and productive land,
degradation should also consider the width of the
2015 245.19 13.71 27.16 22.99 erodible corridor. The map of relatively erosion-
2020 244.95 16.27 12.06 15.68 resistant bank line, moderately erosion-resistant bank
line and highly erodible bank line should superimpose a

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geomorphic and geological map of the area. The rate of Surian, N. (1999). Channel changes due to river
erosion per year along the bank line of the Jamuna river regulation: the case of the Piave River, Italy. Earth
should also be considered for sustainable bank Surface Processes and Land forms. 24 (12), 1135-
protection and land conservation measures. 1151.

Acknowledgement

The authors are grateful to the Director-General of the

Geological Survey of Bangladesh (GSB) for his kind
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons
permission and approval for this research work. The
Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
authors would also like to express their gratitude to the
Director and Branch Chief of Operation and
Coordination, for his assistance throughout field
preparation and fieldwork and valuable suggestions.
The Deputy Commissioner (D.C), Sirajganj district, the
UpazilaNirbahi Officer (UNO), the local authority of
the Water Development Board (BWDB), and the Local
Government and Engineering Department (LGED) are
also to be thanked for their cooperation during the field
investigations.
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