Peat Resources, its Quality and Condition of Deposition, Bijoynagar Upazila, B’Baria District, Bangladesh

The report is prepared on the basis of peat exploration at 4000 hectre areas of Bijoynagar Upazila at B’Baria district which is in the north-eastern part of Bangladesh. It has been studied extensively for the exploration of peat resources, particularly areal extent, reserve, quality and their condition of deposition. Nine peat bearing areas were identified in the studied area are covering six unions of Paharpur, Haraspur, and Chompoknagar and Uttar Singair beel. Peat was randomly found in surface to near surface at different places of investigated area. The total reserve of peat is about 32.61 million tons in wet condition or 13.044 million tons in dry condition. The chemical analysis of the peat shows average fixed carbon-20.5%, Ash content-32% and calorific value-7000 B.T.U. The quality of this peat is good. Geology, tectonics and environment of any area are controlling parameter for peat deposition. Fluvial and deltaic plain with area of active subsidence are suitable for peat deposition. The peat of the area may deposit from plant material that accumulated insitu (Autochthonous) and transported from short distance (Hypoautochthonous). The peat layers of the study area are found at surface or at shallow depth ranging from few centimeters to 7 meters below surface. Present of clay and silt of the upper part of the deposits indicating that the sediments are deposits usually in the winter season when the current of the water become weak. Moreover, the sediment may also be laid down in stagnant water after the recession of the flood

Peat Deposits at Bijoynagar Upazila, Brahmanbaria District, Bangladesh : A Potential Local Source of Energy

Bangladesh with about 160 million people in land of 147,570 square km which is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. With the increase of population and diversifying of economic activities, Bangladesh has become an energy hunger country. Presently, 80% peoples depend on non commercial energy sources living in the rural area. Peat exploration at Bijoynagar Upazila, Brahmanbaria district. Bangladesh has been carried out for reserve estimation and its economic aspect evaluation. Total peat exploration area is about 4000 hectare. In explored area, nine peat bearing locations are identified in which peat deposits are observed from 0.152 to 3.0 meters below the surface. Total reserves are about 32.61 million tons in wet condition and 13.044 million tons in dry conditions. The peat is grayish brown to grayish black, fibrous, less to medium compacted and water content is about 60-80 % in wet condition. Chemical analyses of the peat shows that fixed carbon content is 15-25 %, Sulfur is 0.1 to 0.8 % and calorific value of the peat is 3000-7000 BTU. The peat of the area is medium to good quality. The peat may be extracted by open peat mining because of its surface to near surface position. This peat can be conveniently used for small industrial and domestic purpose as briquette and compressed tablet form to meet the growing energy demand of the area. But most of the people of Bijoynagar area live on agriculture. So, peat extraction and related geo-environmental degradation may change living style of the people. Proper land use planning, environmental management and policy should be taken before peat extraction

Salinity-induced change in green vegetation and land use patterns using remote sensing, NDVI, and GIS techniques: A case study on the southwestern coast of Bangladesh

This study measured the salinity in the surface water, groundwater, and soils of the southwestern coast of Bangladesh to illustrate the changes in vegetation patterns of the area by NDVI values through RS and GIS. The top soils are found more saline than the sub-soils, and the salinity decreased with soil depths mostly towards the river's flow paths. Almost 50, 86, 100, and 72% of samples of the pond, Gher/agricultural field, river/Khal, and groundwater, respectively are identified as brackish. From the year of 1989–2020, the saline-rich waterlogging area was found to increase while the green vegetation decreased considerably