Saline Water Intrusion in Coastal Aquifers of Bangladesh (Research Paper)

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Saline Water Intrusion in Coastal Aquifers of Bangladesh (Research Paper)

Abstract:

The magnitude of salinity intrusion in coastal areas depends on sensible balance between freshwater flow and saltwater from the sea. The interface between freshwater and saline water is influenced by geology, hydrogeology, groundwater heads and groundwater well pumping rates. But fresh water is an important issue to counterbalance salinity intrusion at the upstream water intake.

To quantify that required fresh water, indeed detailed understanding of the physical phenomena (tidal motion, wind mixing, etc, river flow) is a prerequisite. The coastal zone of Bangladesh comprises of part of the flat Ganga Delta, which is crisscrossed by large tidal rivers discharging into the Bay of Bengal. The estuaries and tidal river systems of the coastal zone have been formed by long periodical deltaic accretion which was dominated by the historical morphological changes of Ganga and Brahmaputra. The major estuarine rivers of the southcentral region are interlinked and fed by numerous smaller channels.

The approximate population in the coastal area is 40 million and they are very much vulnerable to the natural disaster along about 720 km coastline. Saline water intrusion is the main problem in the south-western zone. About 60 and 15 percent of arable land (total 1.0 mha crop-lands) of southwestern and southeastern zone respectively are affected by salinity in the dry period. This salinity is caused by cyclone and storm surges, high spring tide inundation and capillary actions. It affects the soil surface and root zones, which decreases the crop production by about 0.13 M.T. in every year. The increase of salinity intrusion and decrease of arability will be prevailing due to climate change effect and reduction of the flood plain and it may propagate all over the country. In this situation management of salinity intrusion is a vital issue for Bangladesh.

With the mission of saline waterproofing by structural management like coastal embankment projects, dam, sluices, etc and coastal area zoning as nonstructural management to change the land use and other activities can be the vision of sustainable livelihood and environment of Bangladesh.

Dr. Amartya Kumar Bhattacharya
Chairman, MultiSpectra Consultants, 23, Biplabi
Ambika Chakraborty Sarani, Kolkata – 700029,
West Bengal, INDIA.
E-mail: dramartyakumar@gmail.com

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