Assessment of River Channel Shifting and Socio-Economic Impacts on Local Settlements of the Jamuna River, Pabna, Bangladesh.

Abstract

One of the largest rivers in the world, the Brahmaputra changed its course and started flowing into a new channel known as the Jamuna in 1787 as a result of a geological upheaval and an extraordinary flood. Bangladesh is a riverine floodplain country. The Jamuna's bank erosion has already caused thousands of people to lose their homes and irreparably damaged a number of institutions. The whole course of the Jamuna River that passes through the Pabna area is only covered by the Bera bpazila. People from several villages of the Bera upazila directly interact with the river in their daily work purpose. The research area “Bera upazila” which stretched from Bera to Dhalarchar of Pabna district with the area about twenty-five (25) kilometers long and from Nagarbari to Kallyanpur with the area average four (4) kilometers wide. To collect and analyze the data here both qualitative and quantitative tactics have been implemented on this study. For collecting primary data, local interview, direct observation and additionally GIS and RS data have been used. Secondary data has been collected from different published books, journals, articles, and websites. This study has three major objectives: examining patterns in river channel movement through RS and GIS, quantifying the accretion and erosion trends of the Jamuna River in Bera upazila zone and finding out the socio-economic impact on local settlements due to river erosion-accretion process. The study has found that, the amount of erosion and accretion during the study period from 2002 to 2012 along both banks of the river were 2053 ha and 1162 ha, respectively. In the next decade, the amount of erosion and accretion during 2012 to 2022 along both banks of the river were 1627 ha and 640 ha, respectively. Which justify the river channel shifting of Jamuna. The study has also found that, the Jamuna River's accretion