Dhaka, Nov. 13 -- The Meghna estuary is a landscape in constant flux, where land is lost even as new ground rises from the water. But over the past 35 years, satellite images have captured a striking development: Sandwip, Swarnadwip and Bhasan Char are gradually merging into one vast landmass.

The finding comes from images spanning 1989 to 2025, analysed by a team led by Mohammad Mahmudur Rahman of the Bangladesh Space Research and Remote Sensing Organization (SPARRSO).

The study, "Monitoring the Dynamic Landforms in the Meghna Estuarine Islands", appeared in the Journal of Coastal Conservation in October.

"We started working around 2018. At that time, we noticed that the three chars [sandbars] were merging. By 2025-26, we saw that the...