Flooding in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is a low lying, flat country in Asia with three major rivers running

through it: River Ganges, River Brahmaputra and River Meghna. As the land is so

flat, lies below sea level and is made up of a river floodplain, floods often occur.

Bangladesh is also South of the Himalayan Mountains, and so when temperatures

are warm, the snow on these mountains melts too quickly to soak into the

ground. This water runs-off the surface into the rivers.

Flooding in Bangladesh happens every year, and the Bangladeshi people are

usually well prepared. Problems can occur when the floods are much greater

than usual, or happen with little or no warning. Over the last decade or so,

Bangladesh has suffered a number of very severe floods, most recently in 1998.

The reasons for this are not clear, and different theories have been put

forward.

It has been suggested that

deforestation in the Himalayas, India

and Nepal has increased the amount

of water and sediment in Bangladeshi

rivers, which in turn increases the

flooding. The cutting down of trees

means that less water is intercepted (caught by leaves) and less water is

absorbed (taken up) by tree roots.

There are many reasons why trees are being cut down. The population of

Bangladesh is increasing. More people need more resources to live and so more

trees are being cut down for fire wood and to make room for extra farmland.

As more people are living in Bangladesh, more room is needed for all of these

people to live, and so more building is taking place, and more of the country is

being covered by concrete.

Every year, from May to September Bangladesh experiences very heavy rainfall

which is caused by winds blowing from the sea. These rains are called Monsoon

rains.