Months of persistent action: Kamarkhali’s fight to save their village from riverbank erosion

The community of Kamarkhali, located along the Someshwari River in Bangladesh, faced accelerating riverbank erosion that destroyed homes and culturally significant sites. After unsuccessful attempts to build their own bamboo and sandbag embankments, the community formed the Kamarkhali Someshwari Riverbank Erosion Resistance Committee and engaged in non-violent civil resistance, including human chains and social media campaigns. These efforts eventually pressured the Bangladesh Water Development Board to construct a sandbag embankment between February and April 2021. While this protected the village during record-breaking floods in June 2022, residents argue that only a concrete or stone embankment will provide long-term security and that government-scaled sand mining in the river continues to exacerbate erosion.

• Riverbank erosion in Kamarkhali has increased over the last decade, resulting in the loss of approximately 15 feet of land during the 2014 floods, 55 feet between 2014 and 2022, and 20 feet during the 2020 floods. This erosion destroyed houses, roads, shops, and cultural sites, including a Hindu temple and a 150-year-old Banyan tree.
• The community's self-organized attempts to mitigate erosion were initially unsuccessful; a bamboo embankment built after the June 2020 floods was washed away, and a subsequent sandbag embankment was also destroyed by the water.
• Following a campaign of non-violent civil resistance—which included a 500-person human chain and social media mobilization by the youth group Jubo Shakti—the Bangladesh Water Development Board of the Netrokona District constructed a sandbag embankment from February to April 2021.
• While the 2021 embankment protected the village during record-breaking rainfall and floods in June 2022, residents believe it is a temporary solution and advocate for a concrete or stone embankment to ensure long-term protection.
• The community identifies two primary drivers of their vulnerability: high rainfall in the Meghalaya region and government-scaled sand mining in the Someshwari River, which is believed to accelerate erosion and cause air and sound pollution.

APA

van Schie, D., Malek, M. M., Ranon, R. J. K., & Mirza, A. B. (2023). Months of persistent action: Kamarkhali’s fight to save their village from riverbank erosion. Global Resilience Partnership. https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/months-of-persistent-action-kamarkhalis-fight-to-save-their-village-from-riverbank-erosion/

Chicago

van Schie, Douwe, Maliha Masfiqua Malek, Rawnak Jahan Khan Ranon, and Afsara Binte Mirza. Months of persistent action: Kamarkhali’s fight to save their village from riverbank erosion. Global Resilience Partnership, 2023. https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/months-of-persistent-action-kamarkhalis-fight-to-save-their-village-from-riverbank-erosion/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=van Schie |first1=Douwe |last2=Malek |first2=Maliha Masfiqua |last3=Ranon |first3=Rawnak Jahan Khan |last4=Mirza |first4=Afsara Binte |title=Months of persistent action: Kamarkhali’s fight to save their village from riverbank erosion |publisher=Global Resilience Partnership |date=16 January 2023 |url=https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/months-of-persistent-action-kamarkhalis-fight-to-save-their-village-from-riverbank-erosion/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{vanschie2023months, author = {van Schie, Douwe and Malek, Maliha Masfiqua and Ranon, Rawnak Jahan Khan and Mirza, Afsara Binte}, title = {{Months of persistent action: Kamarkhali’s fight to save their village from riverbank erosion}}, institution = {Global Resilience Partnership}, year = {2023}, month = jan, url = {https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/months-of-persistent-action-kamarkhalis-fight-to-save-their-village-from-riverbank-erosion/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }