GovTwin / Institution

Dakshin Surma (Sylhet)

Local Gov

The upazila on the south bank of the Surma directly across from Sylhet city, absorbing the city's urban spillover along the highway corridor.

Wealth rank 372/452 (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

urbanization Across the river from the city, the upazila is taking on Sylhet's outward built-up expansion, with new construction spreading onto low-lying land along the Dhaka highway corridor. So what: Floodplain and drainage capacity are lost as the periphery urbanizes. Source: local planning authority
climate disaster The Surma-bank lowlands here are within the same flash-flood corridor fed by Meghalaya runoff that inundates the city and rural basin alike. So what: Riverside settlements face repeated monsoon flooding. Source: Bangladesh Water Development Board / Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre

Probable solutions

Enforce floodplain-sensitive land-use planning to steer urban spillover off low-lying retention land Responsible: local planning authority · policy proposal
Extend rainfall and upstream-gauge flash-flood early warning with community shelters to the riverside unions Responsible: Bangladesh Water Development Board / Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre · policy proposal