GovTwin / Institution

Sandwip (Chattogram)

Local Gov

An island upazila in the Bay of Bengal at the Meghna estuary mouth, isolated from the mainland and chronically exposed to cyclones, tidal surge, and shoreline erosion.

Wealth rank 203/452 (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 As an exposed estuarine island with thin mangrove buffer, Sandwip bears the full force of Bay of Bengal cyclone surge and tidal flooding. So what: Surge repeatedly inundates the island and erodes its coastline. Source: Bangladesh Water Development Board
  2. infrastructure Island isolation and dependence on tidal river crossings leave Sandwip with weak transport links and limited access to mainland services. So what: Remoteness hampers emergency response and routine service delivery. Source: Local Government Engineering Department (LGED)
  3. poverty Sandwip's mean Relative Wealth Index of -0.102 (national rank 203/452) places it among the poorer upazilas of the district, near the national midpoint. So what: Low wealth on an exposed island compounds disaster vulnerability. Source: Meta Data for Good Relative Wealth Index (HDX)

Probable solutions