Land&Resources

Land, Resources & Natural Regions

 Most of Bangladesh lies within the broad delta formed by the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers and is exceedingly flat, low-lying, and subject to annual flooding. Much fertile, alluvial soil is deposited by the floodwaters. The only significant area of hilly terrain, constituting less than one-tenth of the nation's territory, is the Chittagong Hill Tracts District in the narrow southeastern panhandle of the country. There, on the border with Myanmar, is Mowdok Mual (1,003 m/3,291 ft), the country's highest peak. Small, scattered hills lie along or near the eastern and northern borders with India. The eroded remnants of two old alluvial terraces-the Madhupur Tract, in the north central part of the country, and The Barind, straddling the northwestern boundary with India-attain elevations of about 30 m (about 100 ft). The soil here is much less fertile than the annually replenished alluvium of the surrounding floodplain.

Land

Total area: 144,000 square kilometers;

Land area: 133,910 square kilometers

Land boundaries: 4,246 km total; 193 km with Myanmar, 4,053 km with India,

Coastline: 580 km.

Land distribution:

· arable land 67%

· forest and woodland 16%

· permanent crops 2%

· meadows and pastures 4%

· others 11%

Rivers and Lakes of Bangladesh

Rivers are the most important geographical features in Bangladesh, and it is the rivers that created the vast alluvial delta. It's been known that the out flow of water from Bangladesh is the third highest in the world, after the Amazon and the Congo systems. The Padma, Jamuna and the lower Meghna are the widest rivers, with the latter expanding to around eight kilometers across in the wet season, and even more during the floods.

Some rivers are known by different names in various portions of their course. The Ganges (Ganga), for example, is known as the Padma below the point where it is joined by the Jamuna River, the name given to the lowermost portion of the main channel of the Brahmaputra. The combined stream is then called the Meghna below its confluence with a much smaller tributary of the same name. In the dry season the numerous deltaic distributaries that lace the terrain may be several kilometers wide as they near the Bay of Bengal, whereas at the height of the summer monsoon season they coalesce into an extremely broad expanse of silt-laden water. In much of the delta, therefore, homes must be constructed on earthen platforms or embankments high enough to remain above the level of all but the highest floods. In non-monsoon months the exposed ground is pocked with water-filled borrow pits, or tanks, from which the mud for the embankments was excavated. Throughout the country there are bils, haors and lakes that meet the need of drinking, bathing and irrigating water. 

Plant and Animal Life of Bangladesh

With the exception of the Chittagong Hill Tracts District, portions of the Madhupur Tract, and the Sundarbans (a great tidal mangrove swamp in the southwestern corner of the country), few extensive forests remain in Bangladesh, the forested and wooded area amounting to about one-eighth of the total area. Broadleaf evergreen species characterize the hilly regions, and deciduous trees, such as acacia and banyan, are common in the drier plains areas. Commercially valuable trees in Bangladesh include sundari (hence the name Sundarbans), gewa, sal (mainly growing in the Madhupur Tract), and garyan (in the Chittagong Hill Tracts District). Village groves abound in fruit trees (mango and jackfruit, for instance) and date and areca (betel) palms. The country also has many varieties of bamboo.

Bangladesh is rich in fauna, including 109 indigenous species of mammals, 684 types of birds, 119 kinds of reptiles, 19 different amphibians, and 200 varieties of marine and freshwater fish. The rhesus monkey is common, and gibbons and lemurs are also found. The Sundarbans area is one of the principal remaining domains of the Bengal tiger, and herds of elephants and many leopards inhabit the Chittagong Hill Tracts District. Other animals living in Bangladesh include mongoose, jackal, Bengal fox, wild boar, parakeet, kingfisher, vulture, and swamp crocodile.

 Water Resources

 About two thirds of the cultivable land at Bangladesh are prone to flood damagc every    years. Thus flood control and drainage improvement are crucial for the national economy in order to reduce or prevent damage to crops and infrastructure. Since agriculture and water resources arc linked, increasing food grain production requires water management through flood control, drainage and irrigation.

The dual problem of shortage of water during the dry season and its abundance in rainy season are critical in the development and management of water resources in Bangladesh. Being the lower riparian of the three major rivers of the world-the Ganges, the Brahmaputra and the Meghna-Bangladesh could not undertake meaningful water development in the past in order to properly harness their flows for the benefit of the people.

The historic Ganges Water sharing Treaty signed with India on 12 December, 1996, has opened up newer avenues for offsetting the negative impact of Farakka Barrage and tapping the potentials of water resources in the country. Opportunities have also opened up for regional. sub-regional and basin-wide development and management of water for mutual benefit. It is in this backdrop that the Ganges Barrage has been taken up by the present government for implementation.

Mineral Resources

The responsibility of electricity generation, transmission and distribution in the Country lies with the Power Development Board (PDB ), Rural Electrification Board (REB ), and the Dhaka Electric Supply Authority (DESA). During 1997-98, the installed generation capacity Of Electricity in the country was 3091 Megawatt. But due to aging of many power plants obsolescence of some and shortages in gas supply, the real electricity generation capacity has come down to 2350-2400 Megawatt. As some power plants are under BMRE, the average power generation is currently about 1900 Megawatt. The share of gas hydro and liquid-based fuel for electricity generation is 84.5%, 6.1% and 9.4% respectively. The peak demand is about 2300 MW which will jump to around 3150 MW by the year 2000 A.D. The government has amended the Industrial Policy and adopted the Private Sector Power Generation Policy in order to open up the power sector to private investments.

Natural Gas is Bangladesh's most important source of commercial energy. It meets 70% of the country's commercial energy requirement. Other sources of primary energy are imported petroleum products and coal.

The construction work of Barapukuria Coal Mine project has been started in 1994. It has a proven reserve of 303 million metric tons and is expected to he commissioned in 2000-2001. The Madhyapara Hard Rock project is expected to produce 1.65 million tons of hard rock annually after its commissioning in the year 2000.

The Government has invited foreign investments to expedite exploration, production and development of natural gas and petroleum. Incentives for foreign investors have been offered in the National Petroleum Policy adopted recently. Some multinational companies have already started work in different exploration blocks of the country after signing production sharing contracts with the Government.