GovTwin / Institution
Kushtia District
Local Gov
A western district on the lower Ganges (Padma) and Gorai, Kushtia is a major sugar, tobacco and rice growing area and home to the country's largest sugar mill belt. It is an inland agricultural plain experiencing strong warming and heavy dry-season dust and pollution.
Wealth rank 49/64
(1 = poorest district)
Warming +0.48°C
(1980s–2020s)
Air NO₂ #22/64
(1 = most polluted)
Night-lights +74%
(2014–23 activity)
Built-up 48 km²
Forest loss 30 ha
(2001–23)
Rainfall 1,623 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 Kushtia carries some of the worst air in the country, with recent AOD of 0.711 ranking 13th-worst of 64 districts and NO2 of 39.9 umol/m2 ranking 22nd, driven by brick kilns, tobacco curing and dry-season dust. So what: Chronic high aerosol and NO2 exposure raises the respiratory-disease burden and damages crops. Source: MODIS MAIAC aerosol optical depth (550 nm) via Google Earth Engine
- climate disaster The district shows the strongest warming in this group, air up 0.48 C with recent daytime land surface temperatures of 27.7 C, intensifying pre-monsoon heat across an open farming plain. So what: Rising heat threatens field-labor health and the yields of heat-sensitive sugarcane and rice. Source: ERA5-Land reanalysis (Copernicus/ECMWF) via Google Earth Engine, district mean
- economy Nightlight-measured economic activity grew only 74% and ranks 48th of 64 on growth, a comparatively sluggish trajectory tied to the decline of the once-dominant sugar-mill sector. So what: Lagging economic dynamism signals stalled industrial transition and limited new job creation. Source: VIIRS nighttime lights (annual radiance) via Google Earth Engine
- poverty Kushtia ranks 49th of 64 districts on mean Relative Wealth Index (1=poorest), among the poorer districts nationally. So what: Low household wealth combined with weak economic growth narrows the local tax and demand base. Source: Meta Data for Good Relative Wealth Index (HDX), ~2.4 km grid
- water Permanent surface water covers only 33.9 sq km in a district dependent on the Gorai's reduced lean-season flow, exposing it to upstream withdrawals and dry-season scarcity. So what: Falling river flow heightens irrigation stress and saline-front advance downstream. Source: JRC Global Surface Water (permanent water) via Google Earth Engine
Probable solutions
- Phase out fixed-chimney kilns, regulate tobacco-curing furnaces and enforce dust controls on rural roads and construction. Responsible: Department of Environment · Brick Manufacturing and Brick Kiln Establishment (Control) Act
- Restructure or repurpose idle sugar-mill assets toward agro-processing and diversified manufacturing to revive local employment. Responsible: Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation · policy proposal
- Scale up heat-tolerant crop varieties, shaded labor scheduling and early-warning advisories for farm workers. Responsible: Department of Agricultural Extension · policy proposal
- Sustain Gorai river dredging and augment lean-season flow to protect irrigation and push back salinity. Responsible: Bangladesh Water Development Board · Gorai River Restoration Project