“Just two years ago, our home stood right here. Now it’s all swallowed by the Meghna. In a few more days, even this historic Matbar house will be gone. The last trace of our ancestors will vanish,” sighed Delwar Matbar, a local resident, standing on the edge of the crumbling riverbank. His eyes reflected helplessness and despair.

The banks of the Meghna River in Mehendiganj upazila of Barishal now tell only stories of destruction. Every day, the river claws deeper, engulfing homesteads, farmland, mosques, schools—every mark of livelihood. In recent weeks, the situation in Sadeqpur, Rukundi, and nearby villages has become even more dire, as once-thriving communities vanish into the river’s depths.

Once celebrated for its natural beauty, Mehendiganj has today become synonymous with the horrors of river erosion. During the monsoon, the swollen Meghna surges forward, devouring thousands of homes and displacing countless families.

But the erosion is erasing more than just homes. It is consuming the future of Mehendiganj’s people. With schools and mosques collapsing into the river, many children are forced to drop out of education. Boys take up work to support their families, while girls face early marriages and other social hardships, fueling a cycle of vulnerability that seems never-ending.

The economy of the upazila is also breaking down. Roads, markets, trees, and vital infrastructure are disappearing, leaving residents increasingly fragile and dependent. According to research by CEGIS (2019), Bangladesh loses an estimated 5,000–6,000 hectares of land to river erosion each year. As many as 100,000 people are directly affected annually, causing economic damages of nearly \$250 million (Prothom Alo, 2022).

Fears of a vanishing map

In 2015, the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) identified Mehendiganj as one of the country’s most erosion-prone regions. The relentless erosion caused by the Meghna, Ilisha, Mashkata, Tetulia, and Kalabadar rivers has steadily reduced the upazila’s geographical area. Locals now fear that without urgent and effective intervention, large parts of Mehendiganj may soon disappear from Bangladesh’s map.

For those living in erosion-hit areas, life has become a cycle of anxiety and uncertainty. Their demand is clear and pressing: the government must take immediate, permanent, and effective measures to protect the riverbanks. Otherwise, residents warn, their suffering and helplessness will only intensify—leaving behind the haunting question, “How much more must be lost before the state takes notice?”