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The Floods of 1987
These catastrophic floods occurred July-August and affected 57,300 km of land, ~40% of the total area of the country. This seriously affected areas on the western side of the Brahmaputra, below the Ganges and considerable areas north of Khulna. Over 1600 people died. -
The Floods of 1988
It occurred August - September and lasted 15-20 days. The waters blocked off about 82,000 km of land, ~60% of the area. Rainfall coupled with very high flows of all the three major rivers of the country in only three days. Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, was severely affected. Over 2300 people died. -
India proposes plan to divert major rivers
Indian environmental officials push forward to complete a damming project to divert the major rivers, the Brahmaputra, the Surma, and 51 others, into the Bay of Bengal. However, Bengali environmentalists protested against it as many rice farmers, up to 20 million living in Bengladesh, rely on the heavy rainfall. -
Length of Plan
-India's plan to divert awter from major rivers, threaten the livelihood of more than 100 million people downstream.
-The diversion of water can cause the rice production to fall, without the rice they don't know how they will survive.
-The plan could cost anywhere between 57.6 billion US dollars to 163.63 billion US dollars.
-It could take at least 14 years to implement. -
How does it affect the ecosystem?
The plan involves building hundreds of reservoirs and digging over 600 miles of canals. The plan could cover over 3,000 sq. miles of land, forcing over 3 million people out of the area. It could also trigger a long-term disaster on the subcontinent of India. It will divert energy to irrigate 135,000 sq. miles of farmland and produce 34,000 megawatts of hydroelectricity. -
