published on:26/11/2013
The once-treasured lighthouse on Kutubdia island is sinking due to rising sea levels and unabated erosion that has caused half the island to disappear in a matter of decades.

The once 60 sq km island has been reduced to a mere 25 sq km since the 1960’s, says Coast Trust executive director Rezaul Karim Chowdhury. Islanders are losing their centuries old homesteads, while rising population density—as the island’s more than 100,000 inhabitants are forced to occupy less and less land—gives rise to social and economic unrest.

SAARC Meteorological Research Centre (SMRC) also records the sea levels rising along the coast of Bangladesh.

An SMRC study pointed out that the sea level at Hiron Point in the Sundarbans, at the island of Char Chhenga and at Cox’s Bazaar are registering significantly increased tidal heights.

SMRC’s senior research officer Mizanur Rahman told bdnews24.com that with higher seas, salinity and coastal erosion was also increasing.

Farming, one of the two main livelihoods on the island—the other being fishing—is gradually being abandoned due to shrinking arable land, while people are made homeless refugees.see details