Dhaka, Aug. 13 -- In northern Bangladesh's remote riverine belts, the once life-giving Teesta River now mercilessly swallows homes, farmland and hope, leaving entire communities on the brink.

Over the past few weeks, as the river's water level rose and fell, erosion has grown more vicious, snatching away the last fragments of security from countless farming families in Rangpur, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Gaibandha and Nilphamari.

Arable land has vanished, homesteads have crumbled into the swirling current and with them, memories and sustenance of generations have been swept away.

According to the Rangpur divisional office of the Water Development Board (WDB), 59 houses in the five districts have been swallowed in just the last seven days....