GovTwin / Institution

Meherpur-S (Meherpur)

Local Gov

The sadar upazila and administrative seat of far-western Meherpur district on the Ganges-fed plain, centred on irrigated agriculture, vegetables and sugarcane.

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. air quality As the district hub on the western border belt, the sadar is exposed to the heavy transboundary haze and local kiln and biomass emissions documented for Meherpur. So what: Poor air quality raises respiratory health risks for the district centre's population. Source: Department of Environment
2. water On the Ganges-dependent western plain with negligible permanent surface water, the upazila's irrigated agriculture depends almost wholly on groundwater prone to dry-season scarcity. So what: Groundwater dependence risks dry-season shortfalls and rising irrigation costs. Source: Barind Multipurpose Development Authority / Department of Agricultural Extension

Probable solutions

• Conversion of brick kilns to cleaner technology and curbs on open biomass burning, coordinated with cross-border air-quality monitoring Responsible: Department of Environment · policy proposal
• Surface-water harvesting, alternate wetting-and-drying irrigation and crop diversification away from water-intensive rice to ease groundwater stress Responsible: Barind Multipurpose Development Authority / Department of Agricultural Extension · policy proposal