Chengi River: ‘Lifeline’ of Khagrachhari choking from encroachment, pollution

The Chengi River is often called the lifeline of the hill district Khagrachhari. Flowing down from the hills, the river is not just a symbol of natural beauty—it is deeply entwined with the culture, economy, and daily life of the local people. Every year, the local ethnic communities start their New Year celebrations by floating flowers on this river.

Like other rivers across the country, this hilly river too has fallen prey to encroachers. In the district town and elsewhere, people have occupied parts of the riverbanks to build houses and shops. Many of them had lost their homes to river erosion in other parts of the country and took refuge here, erecting makeshift dwellings.

A rubber dam has also been installed in the river. During the dry season, temporary embankments are put up at various points to withdraw water for irrigation.

As a result, silt deposits are steadily filling up the river, reducing its depth and water-carrying capacity. The intensity of floods and erosion has increased sharply in recent years.

Alongside encroachment and erosion, pollution has become another serious concern. Although a project was taken up to dredge the river and control erosion, the contractor abandoned the work halfway.

Just like the main river, the district town’s principal canal is also in dire straits due to encroachment and pollution. Influential locals and even government agencies have constructed markets, residential buildings, and hotels by occupying portions of the “Khagrachhari Canal.” These structures have narrowed the canal, obstructing water flow, and causing severe waterlogging whenever it rains.

Nature has begun to retaliate for such abuse. Last year, the hill district witnessed one of the worst floods in living memory. The district town and surrounding upazilas were completely submerged.

River researchers warn that if such negligence continues, the situation could worsen. They note that the Chengi is one of the main sources feeding Kaptai Lake—the country’s largest reservoir. If Chengi dries up, fish production in Kaptai Lake will decline, and electricity generation could also be affected. Hence, they urge urgent and effective action to protect the river.
According to district administration data, the Chengi originates in Panchhari, flows through Khagrachhari sadar and Mahalchhari, and merges with Kaptai Lake in Naniarchar upazila of Rangamati. The river is 97 kilometers long.

The Khagrachhari canal, which starts from the eastern hills of the district and flows into the Chengi, is 8.5 kilometres long, varying in width from 15 to 40 meters. Around 300,000 to 350,000 people live in the upazilas through which the Chengi flows.

In the Chakma language, Chengi or Chingei refers to a small edible plant. The river has long been intertwined with the lives of hill people.

Francis Buchanan, working for the East India Company, visited Chattogram some 227 years ago to explore the prospects of spice cultivation and travelled across the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

In his book A Journey through Southeast Bengal, he referred to the Chengi as Chimi or Chingi. On 29 April 1798, Buchanan reached the Chengi River and wrote that both banks were inhabited by the Chakmas. Travelling upstream, he encountered several tributaries, whose names he recorded.

Researcher Sugata Chakma notes that the Chengi River is crucial to the people of Khagrachhari. In his book Socioeconomic Conditions of the Chakmas in Khagrachhari District, he wrote, “The history of Khagrachhari, the settlement of various tribal ancestors, and the cultivation of jhum and cultivation using plough owe much to the contributions of rivers like Chengi, Maini, Feni, and others.”

Eight rivers flow through Khagrachhari district, which also has 88 canals, according to the National River Conservation Commission (NRCC). Six years ago, the district administration prepared a list of encroachers on the Chengi river and the Khagrachhari canal, claiming other rivers were free from encroachment.

Joint surveys by the NRCC, district administration, and Water Development Board identified 31 individuals and one institution as river or canal grabbers—20 on the Chengi and 11 individuals plus one institution on the canal. The NRCC published this list on its website in April 2019. Fourteen encroachers were recorded in Uttar Ganjpara of the district town and six in Panchhari Bazar.

When a Prothom Alo correspondent and photographer visited Uttar Ganjpara on 21 August, they found the number of structures far exceeded the listed ones. Locals admitted that hundreds of families had built homes on public land along the riverbanks—some buying plots from earlier encroachers, while others occupying land themselves. Since 2019, another 100–150 new houses have been built.

Rows of tin-shed and semi-pucca houses now line the canal banks, connected by brick-paved lanes and electricity. Most settlers are low-income people—day laborers, rickshaw pullers, van drivers, or small shopkeepers.

Many of the occupants of Ganjpara are victims of river erosion from other districts such as Barishal, Bhola, Khulna, and Jashore. They lost their homes and relocated, either by buying land or grabbing, to the hills decades ago.

For instance, Samsul Haque from Lalmohan in Bhola lost his land and home to river erosion 45 years ago, according to NRCC list. He is now living in a tin-shed house on the river bank. His wife, Bibi Ayesha, told Prothom Alo that they lost everything to the river in the 1980s. Then the family came to Dhaka first, and then moved here. In 2001, they bought this place in Uttar Ganjpara, but have no legal papers. Her husband just bought possession rights (adverse possession). Almost no settlers living here have the land ownership papers.

The elderly woman said even here, they live in constant fear of erosion or eviction.

Similar stories are found among their neighbours, such as Aminul Majhi, elder brother of Bibi Ayesha, and Nasir Uddin from Fatikchhari.

Nasir said he bought around 14 decimal land in 2011 from someone named Jahangir at Tk 300,000. He relocated for business but most of his neighbours came here from Barishal, Bhola, Jashore, and Khulna region facing river or coastal erosion. Shukkur Ali, a neighbour of Nasir, built a semi-pucca house. None from his family were found in the house.

Although these families are named in the list of encroachers, their neighbour Khadiza Akhtar or Nur Muhammad are absent from the list. 

Elderly Nur Mohammad admitted to building his house on government land. His ancestral home is in Narail. Having lost his home, he moved to Khagrachhari 40 years ago. At first, he lived in Matiranga, but there were few livelihood opportunities there. Later, in search of work, he moved to Khagrachhari town 25 years ago and supported his family by pulling a rickshaw. Now, due to age, he can no longer work.

Nur Mohammad said that this area was a river char some 20-25 years ago. People built houses on government land. Some occupied land early on; others bought papers from those who did. On 22 acres and 77 decimals of land, there are about 800 to 900 families. Of these, 300 houses were newly built in the last four or five years.

All residents interviewed said that river erosion and flooding have intensified in recent years. Every time a flood hits, their homes are submerged within a short time. The water rises from waist to head height, destroying all household belongings.

During such times, it becomes impossible to stay in the house; to save their lives, they take shelter with relatives in other areas or in school buildings. A strong embankment along the river might have saved them from this calamity.

An official of the Khagrachhari district administration acknowledged that most people who built homes by encroaching on the riverbank were themselves victims of river erosion.

In 2022, the NRCC conducted a survey to identify encroachments and pollution across the country and to create a database of rivers. Among the 48 rivers surveyed was the Chengi River.

The survey identified erosion-prone areas of the Chengi River. The river erodes severely in at least 40 points—almost every year. Repeated erosion has caused 12,380 meters of the riverbank to collapse in five years.

According to the report, in the Choungrachhari area of Mahalchhari upazila, erosion occurred 8 to 10 times over five years. In six locations of Kayanghat Union under the same upazila, erosion happened 6 to 10 times—meaning twice a year in some places.

At least eight locations in Panchhari upazila were also affected, including Panchhari Sadar, Chengi, Latiban, and Logang areas.

The highest number of erosion incidents occurred in Khagrachhari Sadar upazila, where the river regularly erodes in 20 locations every year. In the Golabari and Bhaibonchhara unions under the same upazila, annual erosion is a recurring problem.

Across the river from Uttar Ganjpara lies Shantinagar. Speaking at the riverbank, local resident Mohammad Nurul Huda said that during last year’s flood, the road there was washed away by strong currents and has not yet been repaired. He said that the area in Uttar Ganjpara where houses now stand used to be part of the river. Later, as the river changed its course, land began to form. But for the past few years, erosion has started again on both sides—and now it’s coming toward us.

Due to repeated erosion, agricultural lands are being lost, swallowed by the river. Many have lost their croplands. During floods each year, strong currents also damage local roads and infrastructure.

The Chengi River is connected to about 100 canals and streams. Of these, the mouths of nine are now closed, three have lost their flow entirely, and regular erosion occurs in 24. Four others are partially filled in, while 24 remain practically dead during the dry season.

Rely Chakma, a resident of Kinachan Para in Pujgang Union of Panchhari upazila, said that their cropland has been lost to the Chengi River’s erosion. Once, the river was quite far from her house, but it has come right to their doorstep now.

Rely said when she was young, floods were rare—but now they happen regularly.

To protect key infrastructure from river erosion and to dredge the Chengi, Maini, and other rivers and streams in Khagrachhari, the Water Development Board is implementing a project titled “Protection of Khagrachhari Town and Adjacent Infrastructure from River Erosion.” The project, worth Tk 5.86 billio (586 crore,) had achieved only 32 per cent progress by June this year.

Currently, dredging of the Chengi River has stopped. Water Development Board Executive Engineer Tanzir Saif Ahmed told Prothom Alo that two contractors had been assigned for the work, but due to local political issues and other complications, neither could proceed.

One contract has already been canceled, and the other is being terminated. New contractors will now be appointed. Work is ongoing to place concrete blocks along a 10-kilometre stretch to prevent erosion. Once dredging and silt removal are completed, the benefits will be visible. Flooding will no longer occur like before.

Former Rangamati Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Mizanur Rahman also expressed concern over the Chengi River. In a letter to the NRCC on 10 November, 2022, he wrote that navigation in the river stops during the dry season due to loss of navigability.

He recommended dredging and river training to restore flow and suggested excavating the streams and channels at the river’s sources to maintain water movement.

A study titled “Water Quality and Fish Diversity of the Chengi River in Khagrachhari District” was conducted by three researchers from universities in Bangladesh and the United States—Gulshan Ara Latifa of Dhaka University, Ahmad Kamruzzaman Majumdar of Stamford University, and Md Humayun Kabir of the University of California.

Published in 2019, the study highlighted alarming levels of encroachment and pollution in the Chengi River. The river is vital for the livelihoods of local people—used for drinking water, irrigation, fish farming, and household needs.

However, due to unregulated river management and human and industrial waste, the water quality has been deteriorating rapidly. The diversity of fish species has decreased, with smaller species dominating and large, economically valuable ones disappearing.

The researchers collected water samples from three sites. The pH levels ranged from 9.1 to 9.7, while the safe range is 6.5 to 8.5—making survival difficult for fish at such alkalinity.

Dissolved oxygen (DO) levels ranged from 5.3 to 5.8 mg/L, below the recommended 6.5 or higher, making it hard for aquatic life to survive.

Continuous dumping of waste, sewage discharge, hanging latrines, slaughterhouse waste, and encroachment are worsening the situation day by day.

Within Khagrachhari town, local businessman Mohammad Selim, a powerful figure, has fenced off a portion of the Khagrachhari Canal area to expand his shopping complex, Selim Trade Center, one of the largest in town.

In addition, from the Bhanga Bridge to the Chakma cremation ground, several structures—including Dost Mohammad Chowdhury Boarding, Nurul Alam’s concrete building, Saleh Ahmed Hotel, Md Abul Kashem Diagnostic Center, Madhusudan Dey Building, Harunur Rashid Electronics Showroom, Gazi Shahid’s boundary wall, and a building by the Masons’ Cooperative—have been constructed on canal land.

The Hill Tracts Development Board has also built a boundary wall in Master Para, while Babul Nag and Md Nesar Uddin have erected buildings in Muslim Para. Illegal structures are also present in Mahajan Para, Master Para, and Pankhaia Para.

However, Selim Trade Center owner Mohammad Selim denied the allegation of canal encroachment.

A resident living by the canal said that various structures have been built on canal land. Some have even fenced off parts of the canal to protect their plots. This protects their property but causes unprotected parts nearby to collapse under water pressure. Due to such encroachments, the town now faces waterlogging during rainfall.

BNP general secretary of the district unit, MN Absar, raised the issue of canal encroachment and resulting waterlogging at a recent District Law and Order Committee meeting.

Contacted, Khagrachhari Deputy Commissioner ABM Iftekharul Islam Khandaker said that lists of encroachers on the Chengi River and Khagrachhari Canal have been prepared and there are plans to remove these illegal structures. Tk 500,000 is needed for the eviction drive. A letter has been sent to the NRCC on 5 November last year seeking allocation.

He said the eviction drive will begin once funds are available.

National River Conservation Commission Secretary Md Moniruzzaman Talukder told Prothom Alo that lists of river and canal encroachers have been collected through the deputy commissioner’s office.

The local DC has been requested by the NRCC to carry out eviction drives as per those lists. Local administrations are already working to remove illegal structures.

Professor Bodhisatwa Dewan, president of Citizens for Good Governance (SUJAN) in Khagrachhari, said that though lists of illegal structures have been made, there has been no action from the ministry or administration to remove them.

People are grabbing river and canal land as they please. Due to filling and encroachment, water flow has been severely obstructed, causing severe flooding across Khagrachhari last year. To restore normal flow, encroachers—no matter how influential—must be evicted, and dredging of rivers must be completed quickly.

The Kaptai Lake—the country’s largest—draws its water from four rivers including Chengi. However, upstream, various environmentally harmful activities are taking place—such as water withdrawal, tobacco cultivation, rubber dams, and sluice gates—that divert water away from the river.

As a result, connected streams and canals are filling up, reducing flow. This obstruction to the river’s natural course poses a serious future threat.

If the Chengi river’s flow continues to decline, Kaptai Lake will face water shortages, affecting power generation. Sedimentation from eroded hills is filling the riverbed, reducing depth and water-holding capacity, while rainfall has increased. Consequently, flooding has become a regular occurrence in Khagrachhari during the monsoon.

Just as the heart keeps the body alive and healthy, a river sustains a settlement. If the heart fails, the body ceases to function; likewise, if a river is damaged and its flow blocked, the area will become uninhabitable. Therefore, all necessary measures must be taken to protect Khagrachhari’s lifeline—the Chengi River. There is no alternative.

[Jayanti Dewan, Khagrachhari correspondent, contributed to this report]