Hazards in a Fickle Environment: Bangladesh

Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research

VOLUME 10

SERIES EDITOR

Mohammed I. EI-Sabh, Departement d'Oceanographie, Universite du Quebec a Rimouski, Quebec, Canada

EDITORIAL BOARD

Wang Ang-Sheng, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Beijing, P.R. China

Gerhard Berz, MOnchener ROckversicherungs-Gesellschaft, MOnchen, Germany

Oscar Gonzalez-Ferran, Departamento de Geologia y Geofisica, Facultad de Ciencias Fisicas y Mathematicas, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile

Terry Jeggle, Secretariat for the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction, Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland

Cinna Lomnitz, National University of Mexico, Instituto de Geofisica, Mexico, D.F. Mexico

Tad S. Murty, Baird & Associates, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Alvin H. Mushkatel, Office of Hazards Studies, Center for Public Affairs, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA

Joanne M. Nigg, Disaster Research Center, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA

Alexei V. Nikolaev, Institute of Physics of the Earth, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

Paul M. Thompson, Flood Hazard Research Center, Middlesex University, Enfield, UK

Donald A. Wilhite, International Drought Information Center, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE, USA

The titles published in this series are listed at the end of this volume.

Hazards in a Fickle Environment: Bangladesh

by

c. EMDAD HAQUE DeparlmentofGeography, Brandon University, Manitoba, Canada

.... " SPRINGER-SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, B.V.

A C.I.P. Catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.

ISBN 978-94-010-6167-4 ISBN 978-94-011-5155-9 (eBook) 00110.1007/978-94-011-5155-9

Printed on acid-free paper

AII Rights Reserved ©1997 Springer Science+Business Media Oordrecht Originally published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 1997 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1 st edition 1997 No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright owner.

To my family (Molly, Avanti and Neil)

and the people of Kazipur

Preface

Acknowledgements

Foreword

Part One

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

CONTENTS

Natural Hazards and Human Perspectives

Hazardous Environment and Disastrous Impact: The Challenge of Understanding and Responding 1.1. Explanations in Hazards Research: The Study 1.2. Environmental Threats and Disasters in

Bangladesh 1.3. Approaches to the Nature-Society

Relationship: A Conceptual Prologue to Hazard Studies

1.4. Nature and People Process (NAPP) Framework: A Conceptual Tool for Disaster

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1

3 4

8

12

Analysis 19 1.5. Conceptualization of Riverine Hazards

in Bangladesh 27 1.6. Scope and Organization of the Study 29

Natural Disasters-Induced Displacement: An Overview of An Emergent Crisis 2.1. Environment and Population Displacement:

A Prelude 2.2. Migrants, Refugees, and Displacees:

Taxonomical and Definitional Problems 2.3. Displacement, Relocation and

Resettlement

Human Coping Responses to Natural Hazards: A Survey and Critique of Approaches 3.1. Perspectives on Natural Hazards 3.2. Natural Hazards Research 3.3. Human Coping Responses to Natural

Hazards

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31

31

33

46

55 55 64

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Part Two Riverine Hazards and Human Ecology: Bangladesh 79

Chapter 4 Physical Dimensions of Riverine Hazards in the Bengal Basin: The Case of the Brahmaputra-J amuna Floodplain 81 4.1. Physical Characteristics of the Bengal

Basin 82 4.2. Floods in Bangladesh 90 4.3. River Channel Shifting and Bank Erosion

Problems in the Brahmaputra-Jamuna Floodplain 102

4.4. Conclusions 137

Chapter 5 Social Class Formation and Vulnerability of the Population: A Historical Account of Human Occupance and Land Resource Management 139 5.1. River Channel Changes and Their Impact

on Human Habitat 140 5.2. Settlement in the Delta Frontier 144 5.3. Dynamics of Population Growth and

Spatial Distribution 146 5.4. State, Land Tenure and Legal Systems:

Formation of the Bengal Peasantry 154 5.5. The Process of Pauperization and

Increasing Proneness to Natural Hazards 159 5.6. Conclusions 164

Part Three Riverbank Erosion Hazard in Serajganj District: Impacts and Responses 165

Chapter 6 The Rural Study Design: The Characteristics of the Samples 167 6.1. Research and Survey Methodology 167 6.2. The Profile of the Samples: Displacement

Characteristics 178

Contents IX

Chapter 7 Impacts of Riverbank Erosion Disaster: Understanding Differentials in Rural Socio-economic Characteristics 186 7.1. Land-Loss and Population Displacement 187 7.2. Accretion, Power and Violence: The

Dynamics of Impoverization 193 7.3. Effects of Displacement on Socio-

economic Characteristics 198 7.4. The Model for Regressing Displace-

ment Status on Household Income 217 7.5. Conclusions 224

Chapter 8 Coping Responses of Floodplain Users in Rural Kazipur 225 8.1. Patterns in Perception of Hazards 226 8.2. Patterns in Coping Responses to

Riverine Hazards 230 8.3. Differentials and Explanatory Factors:

A Test of Hypotheses 244

Chapter 9 The Displaced Poor in Urban Environments: The Case of Squatters in Serajganj 259 9.1. Disasters-Induced Displacement and

Rural-Urban Migration 259 9.2. Marginalization and Poverty in

Squatter Settlements 268 9.3. Resource Conflict and the Exclusion

of Squatters 278 9.4. Conclusions 281

Part Four Emerging Policy Issues: Towards Sustainable Reduction of Disasters and Floodplain Development 283

Chapter 10 Public Policy Issues: Water Management, Hazard Mitigation and Resettlement 285 10.1 Rural Development, Food, and

Riverbank Erosion Prevention and Control Policies 286

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Chapter 11

Notes

References

Index

Contents

10.2. Public Perception and Preference of the Future Government Role

10.3. Policies Concerning Riverine Disasters­Induced Displacees and Resettlement

Toward a Sustainable Floodplain Development Strategy 11.1 Dealing with Riverine Hazards:

Research and Policy Implications 11.2 Approaching a Sustainable Floodplain

Development 11.3. Broader Applications of the NAPP

Framework

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306

311

311

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323

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377

PREFACE

This book evolved from a collaborative research project between the University of Manitoba, Canada and Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh, which commenced in 1984 to study the problems of river channel migration, rural population displacement and land relocation in Bangladesh. The study was sponsored by the International Development Research Center (IDRC), based in Ottawa, Canada. It was through this project that I started my journey into disaster research more than thirteen years ago with basically an applied problem of massive magnitude in Bangladesh. I spent two- and-a half-years, in two stages, in Bangladesh's riparian villages to collect the empirical data for this study. Then the growing disaster discourse throughout the 1980s, especially its conceptual and theoretical areas, drew me in further, gluing my interest to these issues. In the 1990s, during my research and teaching at Brandon University, Canada, I realized that, despite the large body of literature on natural disasters, there was no work that synthesized the approaches to nature-triggered disasters in a comprehensive form, with sufficient empirical substantiation. In addition, despite the great deal of attention given to disasters in Bangladesh, I found no detailed reference book on the topic.

Natural hazards and disasters, in my view, should be studied under a holistic framework encompassing the natural environment, society and individuals. Overreaction to the limitations of technocratic-scientific approaches-the control and prevention of physical events through specialized knowledge and skills-has resulted in a call for "taking the naturalness out of natural disasters." Similarly, the behavioral-ecological stress in social studies on individual characteristics has attempted to redirect attention to social structures. There is little doubt that overspecialization in geophysical fields, the recipe of radical political restructuring, and outright rejection of the individual's power to think and act, have inhibited the needed acceptance of disaster research from an integrative perspective and have restricted the development of theory.

In this volume, I outline a holistic framework to analyze the nature-society relationship and its connection to disasters. I then apply this approach to the detailed examination of case study involving floods and riverbank erosion in the riparian environments of Bangladesh. In the concluding chapter, the possible application of the framework to a wider range of environmental hazards is explored. Primarily, the framework illustrates that the human sphere is an integral part of the natural environment while also a differentiated entity-just as social laws are distinct from natural laws. Natural disasters thus occur as interfaces of both natural and human realms.

The book is a timely contribution, arriving at a time when the world has passed through three-quarters of the International Decade on Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR). I trust that it will help establish the critical importance of understanding natural disasters in the context of the complex human relationship with the natural environment. In this way I wish to reassert the significance of a unifying approach to disasters studies, one that stresses multiple traditional disciplinary areas (geophysical,

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biological, social, economic, political, cultural) be assessed, compared, and integrated. From that we can go on to determine how- to improve human coping responses to environmental hazards and disasters.

While this book is truly the culmination of a team effort-supported by the IORC, the Social Science and Humanities Research Council, and the Brandon University Research Committee-its present form and contents are the responsibility of the author.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This book has its roots in a research project-the Riverbank Erosion Impact Study (REIS)-that was carried out between 1984 and 1989. Although that team effort ended eight years ago, I have continued to pursue my interest in the topic by following the emerging significance of environmental threats and hazards in the present-day world. The series editor, Mohammed El-Sabh, who envisioned the inclusion in this series of a book on Bangladesh's riverine hazards, encouraged me to modify my doctoral work to fill this gap. Petra van Steenbergen of Kluwer Academic Publishers has patiently guided me through the entire process, in terms of format and substance. I am deeply indebted to both of them.

As this study has evolved over the last fourteen years, it would be impossible to compile an exhaustive list of individuals, agencies, and institutions that have encouraged and assisted me along the way. I am most grateful to the people of Kazipur, who not only responded to the questionnaires, but also contributed in various other capacities. My gratitude is extended especially to the following REIS team members who provided insights on specific issues: John Rogge, Raymond Wiest, Larry Stene, K. Moudood Elahi, Matiur Rahman, Ansari Khan, Mohammed Zaman, Ziarat Hossain and Charles Greenberg. Funding for the 1985 survey was received from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and for the 1995 survey from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and the Brandon University Research Committee (BURC). I am deeply appreciative of these supports.

Without my release from teaching duties through a sabbatical leave, this book would not have been realized. I am thankful to Roger Smith, the Dean of Sciences, and my colleagues in the Department of Geography for providing me this opportunity. During the writing of this book, the Institute of Development Studies, Refugee Studies Program at the University of Oxford rewarded me with a Visiting Research Fellowship. My special thanks go to David Turton and Barbara Harrell-Bond for their assistance and hospitality in Oxford.

David Jones and Marjorie Halarson prepared the maps and diagrams. Glenn Bergen generously gave his time to read and edit the manuscript. Christine Sharpe prepared the typescript with great patience. To all, I express my sincere appreciation and thanks. My final thanks go to my family-wife Molly, daughter Avanti and son Neil-for quietly enduring my detachment from them during the progress of the project.

The publisher and I thank the following organizations and individuals for permission to reproduce or redraw tables and figures used in this book:

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Blackwell Publishers (Figure 7.2; Table 7.4); Elsevier Science (Table 4.6; Figure 4.8); Irrigation Support Project for Asia and the Near East Table 4.10; Figure 4.12); M.A.O.A. Khan (Figure 4.5; Table 4.9; Figure 4.13); Plenum Publishing Corp (Figure 6.1); Society for Sedimentary Geology (Figure 4.11); World Bank (Table 4.3; Figure 10.3).

C. Emdad Haque Brandon, August 1997

FOREWORD

Natural disasters are catastrophes at the interface between physical events and a vulnerable human population. Ever since the beginnings of recorded history, humankind has been faced with a range of these hazards, slow-acting and infrequent in some areas, intense and catastrophic in others. In today's world, the majority of the enormous economic losses due to natural disasters are incurred in industrially developed parts of the world, but the relative impact is much greater on countries with lower per capita incomes. Here the effects on people and the economy continue to be felt for many years after the event.

Bangladesh, probably the nation most affected by natural catastrophes, is literally trapped by water. Lying just above sea level, the country, with a population of around 120 million people over a surface area of only 144,000 square kilometers, is threatened not only by river flooding, but also by cyclones and storm surges from the Bay of Bengal. With the frequent occurrence of massive floods, the number of fatalities (1970: 300,000; 1991: 140,000) and the number of people affected (many millions in each case) reach catastrophic proportions.

These disasters combine two elements: events and vulnerable people. A disaster occurs when an extreme event exposes the vulnerability of individuals and communities in such a way that either their lives are directly threatened or sufficient harm is done to the economic and social structures of their communities. People therefore suffer as a result of both the disaster and their own unpreparedness; but it is also people who will finally solve their own problems, preparing for and mitigating the impact of disasters. Developing a social perspective on disaster mitigation and preparedness is thus vital. It is to this end that Hazards in a Fickle Environment advances the profound significance of the societal and human geographical dimensions of natural disasters. Based on first-hand research on riverine hazards in Bangladesh, this book asserts that disaster impacts in Bangladesh, as in most other developing nations, are caused by social, economic, political, and cultural factors as much as they are by the natural environment.

As the book argues, natural disasters should be studied under a holistic framework encompassing the natural environment, society and individuals. In Hazards in a Fickle Environment emphasis is placed on social vulnerability to disasters, and the need for an adaptive, sustainable approach to floodplain development. I am sure that readers will find the publication of this book a timely contribution to the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction. To connect social and cultural development with ecological and environmental policies could produce incalculable benefits for suffering people. This is an initiative which all of us would do well to support.

Mohammed EI-Sabh Editor-in-Chief

26 September, 1997

Advances in Natural and Technological Hazard Series

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