GovTwin / Institution
Barkal (Rangamati)
Local Gov
A remote eastern hill upazila bordering the reservoir and the international frontier, with forested slopes and scattered indigenous farming paras.
Wealth rank 12/452
(1 = poorest upazila)
Indicators: Meta RWI (HDX); ERA5-Land; MODIS; Sentinel-5P; VIIRS night-lights; GHSL; Hansen v1.11; CHIRPS v2.0. Exposure: GloFAS v2.1, FABDEM, MODIS LST, ACAG PM2.5, WorldPop 2020.
Problems and issues
- poverty The upazila has a mean Relative Wealth Index of -0.442, ranking 12th of 452 nationally (poorest decile), placing it among the poorest sub-districts in the country. So what: Residents face very deep material poverty with little cash income. Source: Meta Data for Good Relative Wealth Index (HDX)
- climate disaster Heavy monsoon rain on steeply sloping, deforested hills drives recurrent landslides and flash floods that cut off remote paras and damage homes. So what: Seasonal disasters repeatedly isolate and endanger hill communities. Source: Department of Disaster Management
- economy Off-grid remoteness keeps the hill interior outside the cash economy, with livelihoods limited to jhum, fisheries on the reservoir and forest produce. So what: Disconnection from markets locks incomes at subsistence levels. Source: Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Board
Probable solutions
- Landslide early-warning, hazard-zone mapping and managed relocation of households on the most unstable hillsides ahead of the monsoon. Responsible: Department of Disaster Management · policy proposal
- Channel hill-specific livelihood and connectivity investment, off-grid solar, all-weather feeder roads and value chains for fruit and fisheries, into the unlit interior paras. Responsible: Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Board / Ministry of CHT Affairs · policy proposal