It is time for Mohammed Qader of Bahuka village in Sirajganj district to move again. For the seventh time in the last 20 years that he has been residing in Bahuka, Qader will be forced to rebuild his life from scratch as the mighty Jamuna river continues to erode its banks and destroy everything in its wake - all thanks to global warming.

 

According to inhabitants of Bahuka, 110 km northwest of Bangladesh capital Dhaka, the Jamuna has swallowed 10 embankments - artificial banks built above the level of the original banks to hold back excess water - and with it all buildings built on the banks, since 1968.

 

The Jamuna, one of the main rivers of Bangladesh, has numerous criss-crossing channels. It is the main distributory of the Brahmaputra as it flows down from India to Bangladesh. Flowing south, it joins the Padma river and then merges into the Bay of Bengal as the Meghna.

 

Experts attribute the worsening erosion to the widening of the river - a phenomenon which could be a result of global warming.

 

For the villagers who have adapted to this vicious cycle - by making residences out of tin and asbestos as they can be disassembled and pieced back together at another location - dams are the solution, even as the 11th embankment on the Jamuna is on its way.

 

However, Indian river expert Kalyan Rudra pointed out that instead of opting for artificial structures that are not viable, land use must be adapted according to the river's behavior.