GovTwin / Institution

Gowainghat (Sylhet)

Local Gov

A northern border upazila at the foot of the Meghalaya hills, home to the Jaflong stone-quarrying belt and the Goyain river, highly flash-flood exposed.

Wealth rank 160/452 (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 beneath the Meghalaya hills, the upazila bears the first and most violent surge of hill runoff, with the Goyain and its tributaries delivering sudden, destructive flash floods. So what: Quarry workers, riverside settlements, and boro farms face abrupt inundation. Source: Bangladesh Water Development Board / Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre
  2. poverty With a Relative Wealth Index mean of -0.132 (decile 4 of 10), it ranks among the poorer upazilas of the district, leaving stone-pit and farming households exposed to repeated shocks. So what: Flood and livelihood losses hit households with little reserve. Source: Meta Data for Good Relative Wealth Index (HDX)
  3. environment Heavy riverbed stone and sand extraction in the Jaflong area degrades the hill-fed streambeds and surrounding ecology. So what: Streambed stability and aquatic habitat are progressively lost. Source: Department of Environment

Probable solutions