In northern Bangladesh’s remote riverine belts, the once life-giving Teesta River now mercilessly swallows homes, farmland and hope, leaving entire communities on the brink.
Over the past few weeks, as the river’s water level rose and fell, erosion has grown more vicious, snatching away the last fragments of security from countless farming families in Rangpur, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Gaibandha and Nilphamari.
Arable land has vanished, homesteads have crumbled into the swirling current and with them, memories and sustenance of generations have been swept away.
According to the Rangpur divisional office of the Water Development Board (WDB), 59 houses in the five districts have been swallowed in just the last seven days.
More than 100 others stand at the edge, facing the same fate, their occupants warned to evacuate before the inevitable.
Teesta surges above danger mark, floods low-lying areas in Rangpur
Officials say erosion is now striking at 38 points along the Teesta. Emergency protection work is underway, but for many, it already feels too late.
On the cracked, collapsing riverbank in Kutirpara village, 65-year-old farmer Akbar Ali sat silently, his gaze fixed on the soil sliding into the current.
His voice broke as he told the UNB correspondent, “This land is all I have left from my father. The water is falling, but the erosion is rising.”
In Balapara village, elderly farmer Monsur Ali could barely utter the weight of his loss. “The Teesta has swallowed my homestead. I’ve lost everything -- my land, my home. I am left with nothing.”
Nearby, 45-year-old Alema Khatun wept openly, her words trembling with desperation. “Save us, our lives are finished. The river has taken everything. Where will we go? What will we eat? The river will take the rest soon.”
For Tasor Uddin, once a resident of land now buried beneath the river’s bed, the nightmare is unending. “The erosion has reached right beside my current house. It may fall into the river any moment. The government officials just come and give us words,” he said in a sad voice.
Another villager, Abul Hossain, voiced what many here feel. “We don’t want relief; we just want protection. If sandbags had been placed along the bank earlier, the river wouldn’t have taken our land,” he said.
The pain is just as raw for Mensur Ali, 56, from Tepamdhoopur in Kaunia upazila. Years ago, he bought 25 decimals of land to build his home.
Now, 20 decimals are gone, washed away. “Only five decimals remain and even that is at risk of being washed away tonight. If the river takes my homestead, I’ll have nothing left,” he said.
Flood fear looms over northern districts as Teesta swells
Tepamdhoopur Union Parishad Chairman Rashedul Islam painted a grim picture saying, “Villages like Rajib, Haricharan Sharma, Hoybatkha, and Bishwanath are being eaten alive by the river. We sought 4,000–5,000 geo-bags for protection but received only 250 --far short of the need.”
In Nilphamari’s Dimla upazila, six out of ten unions are flood-prone, with erosion striking even without major flooding. Villages like Purbo Duholpara and Purbo Baishpukur teeter on the brink. Residents say that if no measures are taken soon, they will be reduced to destitution.
Ahsan Habib, superintendent engineer of the WDB Rangpur zone, said 38 points across the five districts are experiencing severe erosion. “We are carrying out protection work in some areas and have sought more allocations. Once we get them, geo-bag dumping will begin.”
Rangpur Divisional Commissioner Shahidul Islam said the local administrations have been instructed to visit affected areas and take urgent measures, while the WDB has been ordered to intensify work to curb the destruction.
But for the thousands standing on collapsing embankments, watching their land crumble inch by inch, hope is fading fast, said Chairman Rashedul Islam.
For them, the Teesta’s slow, steady bite feels less like nature’s course and more like a death sentence.