Banladesh Flood 2004

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Background information on Bangladesh and its floods

It is estimated that just over 70% of Bangladesh lies below mean sea level. Furthermore there are three main rivers that flow through it, namely the Brahmaputra, Ganges and the Meghna.

These three rivers have been flooding Bangladesh for hundreds of years now and consequently giving the country very fertile soils brought in from eroded sediment of the Himalayas. This has some great advantages for the people of Bangladesh but is also considered the biggest problem hindering the development of the country. The advantage is the fertile soil which is deposited in the delta. Rice farming is dominant here and the soils provide an exceptional environment for it. This fertility is renewed each year by the annual flooding of the rivers which replenish the soil of its nutrients. However, one of the main disadvantages is that the majority of the country is a floodplain! Hence, flood management is a huge predicament. Many recent factors have been making the flood magnitudes and occurrence of floods very irregular. These are factors such as global warming and numerous human and physical causes explained later. When the rivers do flood, huge areas are flooded and there is widespread damage to property and most importantly crops which is Bangladesh’s main export. This has a grave impact on the economy.

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General Causes of Bangladesh floods

Physical causes

  • Bangladesh is a very low lying country, with 70% of its land area being less than 1m above sea level and 80% of it being floodplain
  • Bangladesh receives large amounts of water passing through it with two major rivers (the Ganges and Brahmaputra) converging and forming a huge delta (see picture) formed from silt deposited by the river as it enters the sea. Both rivers have large volumes of water flowing through them to the sea as they have large drainage basins which increasing the flood risk.
  • Bangladesh ...

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