GovTwin / Institution
Chapainawabganj District
Local Gov
A western border district on the Padma and the Barind tract, famous for mango orchards and silk. It is among the poorest and driest districts, and carries one of the country's heaviest combustion-pollution loads along the Rajshahi-Sona Masjid corridor.
Wealth rank 16/64
(1 = poorest district)
Warming +0.43°C
(1980s–2020s)
Air NO₂ #9/64
(1 = most polluted)
Night-lights +79%
(2014–23 activity)
Built-up 44 km²
Forest loss 55 ha
(2001–23)
Rainfall 1,488 mm/yr
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
- air quality Tropospheric NO2 reaches 56.0 umol/m2, the highest in the cluster and 9th-highest of 64 districts, while aerosol optical depth of 0.719 ranks 11th-worst nationally. So what: The combination of heavy traffic-and-kiln NO2 and dense aerosol haze makes air pollution a first-order public-health threat in an otherwise rural district. Source: Sentinel-5P tropospheric NO2 via Google Earth Engine
- poverty Mean Relative Wealth Index of -0.165 ranks Chapainawabganj 16th-poorest of 64 districts. So what: Entrenched poverty leaves orchard laborers and smallholders with thin buffers against drought and price swings in mango and silk. Source: Meta Data for Good Relative Wealth Index (HDX), ~2.4 km grid
- water Annual rainfall of 1488 mm is the lowest in the cluster, and with only 12.4 km2 of permanent surface water on the drought-prone Barind tract, dry-season cultivation leans heavily on groundwater. So what: Low rainfall and limited surface storage put mango orchards and boro rice at chronic drought and aquifer-depletion risk. Source: CHIRPS v2.0 precipitation (UCSB Climate Hazards Group) via Google Earth Engine
- economy Nightlights grew 79 percent but rank only 43rd of 64 in growth pace, indicating slow diversification beyond the seasonal mango-and-silk base. So what: Reliance on a short, perishable mango season and weak processing leaves incomes volatile and the poor district economically narrow. Source: VIIRS nighttime lights (annual radiance) via Google Earth Engine
- environment The district lost 55.1 hectares of forest between 2001 and 2023 and holds 148.4 km2 of tree cover, the smallest in the cluster. So what: Limited and declining tree cover on a dry border tract reduces shade, soil moisture retention, and orchard microclimate buffering. Source: Hansen Global Forest Change v1.11 (UMD) via Google Earth Engine
Probable solutions
- Enforce brick-kiln cleaner-technology conversion along the Sona Masjid corridor and stand up district NO2 and particulate monitoring. Responsible: Department of Environment · policy proposal
- Expand Barind buried-pipe irrigation, pond and canal re-excavation, and groundwater monitoring to secure dry-season orchard and paddy water. Responsible: Barind Multipurpose Development Authority (BMDA) · policy proposal
- Build mango cold-storage, grading, and processing capacity plus silk value-chain support to extend the season and raise smallholder incomes. Responsible: Department of Agricultural Marketing · policy proposal
- Roadside, embankment, and orchard-boundary plantation under community social forestry to restore tree cover on the dry tract. Responsible: Bangladesh Forest Department · policy proposal