GovTwin / Institution

Companiganj (Sylhet)

Local Gov

A northern border upazila at the foot of the Meghalaya hills, known for its stone-quarrying along the Dholai/Piyain rivers and exposure to flash floods.

Wealth rank 175/452 (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

  1. climate disaster Lying directly below the Meghalaya hills, the upazila is hit early and hard by sudden hill runoff and flash floods that sweep down the Piyain and Dholai rivers ahead of the wider basin. So what: Riverside settlements and quarrying areas face abrupt, destructive inundation. Source: Bangladesh Water Development Board / Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre
  2. poverty With a Relative Wealth Index mean of -0.125 (decile 4 of 10), the upazila is among the poorer parts of an otherwise middling district, leaving stone-pit labour and farming households thinly cushioned against shocks. So what: Repeated flood losses fall on households with little buffer. Source: Meta Data for Good Relative Wealth Index (HDX)
  3. environment Intensive riverbed stone and sand quarrying along the hill-fed channels degrades the streambeds and surrounding land. So what: Aquatic habitat and bank stability are progressively damaged. Source: Department of Environment

Probable solutions