GovTwin / Institution

Rangamati District

Local Gov

A vast, sparsely settled hill district built around the Kaptai reservoir, with an economy of jhum (shifting) cultivation, fruit horticulture, fisheries and tourism among Chakma, Marma and other indigenous communities. Despite high rainfall and dense tree cover, it is the poorest district in Bangladesh by mean Relative Wealth Index, with development hemmed in by terrain, remoteness and the legacy of the CHT conflict.

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. poverty Deepest material poverty of any district in the country: a mean Relative Wealth Index of -0.437, ranking 1st of 64 (1 = poorest), reflecting thin cash incomes, low asset ownership and weak connectivity across scattered hill settlements. So what: National poverty-reduction targets cannot be met while the single poorest district stays trapped by terrain and isolation, so it needs a tailored hill-development approach rather than plains-style programs. Source: Meta Data for Good Relative Wealth Index (HDX), ~2.4 km grid
2. environment Severe deforestation in the catchment, with 80,383.7 hectares of tree-cover loss over 2001-2023 from jhum, logging and settlement pressure, even as 519.4 km2 of tree cover remained in 2021. So what: Forest loss on steep slopes accelerates landslides and silts the Kaptai reservoir, eroding both watershed services and the hydropower and fisheries the district depends on. Source: Hansen Global Forest Change v1.11 (UMD) via Google Earth Engine
3. climate disaster Very high annual rainfall of 2,887 mm falling on deforested, steeply sloping hills, driving recurrent landslides and flash floods, compounded by 0.99 C of warming. So what: Monsoon landslides repeatedly cut roads and bury hillside homes, so disaster risk management and slope stabilization must be central to any settlement and infrastructure planning. Source: CHIRPS v2.0 precipitation (UCSB Climate Hazards Group) via Google Earth Engine
4. water The district's 204.4 km2 of permanent surface water is concentrated in the Kaptai reservoir, leaving dispersed upland and remote-para households without reliable piped supply and dependent on springs and the lake. So what: Abundant reservoir water masks acute point-of-use scarcity for hill communities, a gap that gravity-fed and spring-protection schemes must close. Source: Department of Public Health Engineering
5. economy Nightlights grew 165% (12th-fastest of 64 districts), but from an extremely low base concentrated around Rangamati town, so most of the hill interior remains effectively off-grid and outside the cash economy. So what: Headline growth in lit area can disguise persistent interior stagnation, so electrification and market access should target the unlit periphery, not just the district center. Source: VIIRS nighttime lights (annual radiance) via Google Earth Engine

Probable solutions

• Channel hill-specific livelihood and connectivity investment, off-grid solar, all-weather feeder roads and value chains for fruit and fisheries, into the unlit interior paras. Responsible: Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Board / Ministry of CHT Affairs · policy proposal
• Catchment-scale slope stabilization and afforestation with agroforestry alternatives to open jhum on the steepest slopes to cut landslide risk and reservoir siltation. Responsible: Bangladesh Forest Department · policy proposal
• Landslide early-warning, hazard-zone mapping and managed relocation of households on the most unstable hillsides ahead of the monsoon. Responsible: Department of Disaster Management · policy proposal
• Gravity-fed piped schemes and spring-source protection for remote hill paras to replace dependence on the reservoir and untreated surface sources. Responsible: Department of Public Health Engineering · policy proposal

Upazilas (10)