Geology of Rajshahi
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The rapid growth of population, urbanization, communication and infrastructure development in Bangladesh has sharpened the need of understanding the geological processes that some times cause severe natural and man-made disasters. The... more
The rapid growth of population, urbanization, communication and infrastructure development in Bangladesh has sharpened the need of understanding the geological processes that some times cause severe natural and man-made disasters. The natural landscape of Bangladesh can distinctly be portrayed as active plains of fluvial, deltaic and coastal environments, having few strips of low hills in the east and northeast. The country is prone to annual flood and other climatic hazards. The general elevation of the deltaic and coastal plain land is only 2 to 4m above mean sea level.
There are number of large and small clusters of urban growth throughout the country, among these the capital city of Dhaka, the port cities of Chittagong and Khulna (Mongla Port), Rajshahi, Sylhet, Mymensingh, Bogra and Barisal are important. Most of the urban centers are located on naturally raised land facets. The physical growth of these urban centers is so fast that it has become difficult to maintain a systematic land-use pattern of these clusters. The geological disadvantages or advantages for economic and rational engineering design are overlooked. For this many of the newly grown areas have incurred severe damages due to flood, cyclone and tidal surges, riverbank and coastal erosions, landslides, soil collapse and foundation failures. Due to increased frequency of failures in different projects and structures, the concerned authorities are paying attention to the inherent causes of the failure or taking measures to avoid further disruptions.
After the independence of Bangladesh the development activities started so rapidly that a time lag remained between the planners and developers in interchanging the necessary geo-information and data for rational designing or formulation of the projects. In recent years, the city planners and other national organizations like the city improvement authority, the roads and high ways department and the public works department have extended hand for geological information for proper understanding of geological aspects of their projects. Considering these, the Geological Survey of Bangladesh (GSB) has taken up a National Mapping Programme for preparation of geological maps in the scale of 1: 50,000 and engineering geological maps in the scale of 1: 20,000 of different cities and town of the country. So far the GSB has completed about 35% of country's geological mapping and engineering geological mapping of seven cities and towns, among these the urban geological maps of Dhaka and Chittagong cities are most significant achievements. These maps are yet to be published.
This paper describes the present status, prospects and types of geological or geo-environment data, maps and other information available to planners and developers. The means for optimum utilization of hard achieved geological and geotechnical data for rational utilization in the urban and infrastructure developments are proposed.
There are number of large and small clusters of urban growth throughout the country, among these the capital city of Dhaka, the port cities of Chittagong and Khulna (Mongla Port), Rajshahi, Sylhet, Mymensingh, Bogra and Barisal are important. Most of the urban centers are located on naturally raised land facets. The physical growth of these urban centers is so fast that it has become difficult to maintain a systematic land-use pattern of these clusters. The geological disadvantages or advantages for economic and rational engineering design are overlooked. For this many of the newly grown areas have incurred severe damages due to flood, cyclone and tidal surges, riverbank and coastal erosions, landslides, soil collapse and foundation failures. Due to increased frequency of failures in different projects and structures, the concerned authorities are paying attention to the inherent causes of the failure or taking measures to avoid further disruptions.
After the independence of Bangladesh the development activities started so rapidly that a time lag remained between the planners and developers in interchanging the necessary geo-information and data for rational designing or formulation of the projects. In recent years, the city planners and other national organizations like the city improvement authority, the roads and high ways department and the public works department have extended hand for geological information for proper understanding of geological aspects of their projects. Considering these, the Geological Survey of Bangladesh (GSB) has taken up a National Mapping Programme for preparation of geological maps in the scale of 1: 50,000 and engineering geological maps in the scale of 1: 20,000 of different cities and town of the country. So far the GSB has completed about 35% of country's geological mapping and engineering geological mapping of seven cities and towns, among these the urban geological maps of Dhaka and Chittagong cities are most significant achievements. These maps are yet to be published.
This paper describes the present status, prospects and types of geological or geo-environment data, maps and other information available to planners and developers. The means for optimum utilization of hard achieved geological and geotechnical data for rational utilization in the urban and infrastructure developments are proposed.