ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES AFTER SUPER CYCLONES AND LIVELIHOODS MANAGEMENT IN THE SOUTH-WEST COASTAL AREA OF BANGLADESH (PhD Thesis- Running)

1.     Background of the Study:

Bangladesh covering 147,570 km², features a flood prone landscape and several river systems throughout the country. It provides the major natural resources of land, water, fisheries, forests, and wildlife (Viju, 1995). The coastal zone of Bangladesh covers 32% of the country (Abu et al., 2003). The coastal zone of Bangladesh consists of three parts, (a) The eastern zone, (b) The central zone and (c) The western zone. Most of the coastal inhabitants are poor who exposes to both natural disasters and manmade hazards.

Bangladesh is now facing several environmental issues like cyclones, flooding, groundwater metal contamination, increased groundwater salinity, sedimentation and changing patterns of stream flow due to watershed mismanagement. Cyclones and flooding are naturally occurring events. Many of these events are responsible for climate change causing frequent storms and cyclones and rising sea levels. Bangladesh is the 43rd most vulnerable country to  climate change and the 37th least prepared country to address these effects (ND-GAIN Index, 2016). 

The coastal region of Bangladesh is more cyclone prone. Between 1793 and 1996, Bangladesh experienced one cyclone about every 4.5 years which has a detrimental effect on the local environment as well as on families and their properties. The cyclone that hit in 1970 caused 300,000 deaths and US$ 86.4 million of property damage (Bahauddin et al, 2016). Cyclones can severe damage to the food production of the area. The 1991 cyclone destructed 60% of the cattle stock, 80% of the poultry stock in the affected area and exposed 72,000 ha of rice to salt water. It can also cause storm surges affecting those who live in coastal areas. Furthermore 20 to 22% of the land is flooded between June and October (Yunus, 2014). 

Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable areas of the world ranking 6th in the Global Climate Risk Index 2018. Among 70–80 tropical global cyclones 7% originate in the Bay of Bengal and make landfall along its coast (Hossain et al., 2020). Besides with this high physical exposure, their social vulnerability is also very high. With the widespread poverty among the 60 million people in the coastal region; the GDP per capita is less than US $1698 (World Bank, 2019).

2.     Problem Statement:

The climatic conditions of Bangladesh are influenced by a number of global and regional factors that include geographical location, land cover change in the region and its impacts on wind pattern, fluctuations in the terrestrial and sea surface temperature, the effect of North-South continental scale atmospheric pressure gradient (terrestrial to oceanic), the influence of the jet stream stretched from South East Asia to Northern Africa on the monsoon wind system, changes in the solar albedo due to land use (Rashid, 1977).

Typhoons are tropical storms. They are called `Cyclones' when occur in the Indian Ocean. The coastal regions of Bangladesh got cyclones almost every year that generally occur in early summer (April-May) or late rainy season (October-November). They originate from low atmospheric pressures over the Bay of Bengal. Due to unique geographic location, Bangladesh suffers a lot from devastating tropical cyclones frequently. The funnel-shaped northern portion of the Bay of Bengal amplifies the storm surge of landfilling tropical cyclones, affecting thousands of people. Some of the most devastating natural disasters with high casualties were tropical cyclones that hit the region now comprising present-day Bangladesh. It is especially vulnerable to tropical cyclones with around 718,000 deaths in the past 50 years (Mondal et al., 2014). The future vulnerability in the coastal region of Bangladesh will be significantly higher than present condition (Mondal et al., 2018).

Cyclones and storm surges recently became catastrophic for the coastal people and indirectly for many people in the country. The recent cyclonic storm Bulbul has greatly affected farmers in Satkhira, particularly those in Shyamnagar, Assasuni, Kaliganj, Sadar and Tala upazilas, flooding vast amount of fish enclosures and crops (Dhaka Tribune 15 November, 2019). Nearly 14% of entire agri-land in the country was affected by it and lost Tk. 263 crore in crop yield (MoA, 12 November, 2019).

In response to the environmental issues Bangladesh government formed the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) in 1989, which addresses these issues and considers the role of climate change in the country's development. It oversees the Department of Environment and Forest Department, which enforce the environmental law and protect the natural biodiversity in the country respectively (Rio. 20). In Bahauddin's study, many citizens were not aware of any plans, governmental or non-governmental, to address the effect of climate change. The local government also address climate change related issues. For instance, some local governments have invested in shelters to reduce cyclone-related mortalities (WHO). People's perception on impact of salinity on trees and agricultural crops in the coastal area of Bangladesh shows salinity negatively affects the growth of plant species greatly.

Similarly, (Mondal et al., 2014) showed the induced migration in Bangladesh based on economic, political and social consequences of Cyclone Sidr in 2007. They concluded that the extremely helpless are most likely to migrate. He also observed similar patterns in the aftermath of Cyclone Aila. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM, 2009) many people have already migrated from the coastal zones to urban low-income areas due to frequent cyclones, storm surges, river erosion, etc. This process of disaster induced rural to urban migration seems to have started in 1970, when a strong cyclone hit the coastal regions of the country and counted 300,000 deaths. Since then, Bangladesh has experienced significant growth in its economy, decreased population growth (BBS-GoB 1975, 2013; MoEF 2012; UNDP 2013).

The hazardous event of cyclone SIDR caused extensive destruction of residential, educational, and administrative infrastructures, transportation systems, utility and service facilities along with salinity contamination of drinking water. Approximately 19 coastal districts were fully and other 18 more districts were partially affected (Government of Bangladesh, 2008; Mallick, 2014; Ministry of Food and Disaster Management, 2008b).

This study will try to explore the experiences of super cyclone Amphan affected people living in the coastal areas of Bangladesh.

3.     Objectives of the Study:

The specific objectives of my study is

i)                To examine the environmental changes from recent cyclonic (Amphan) disasters and

ii)              Livelihood management after super cyclone Amphan in the south-west coastal area of Bangladesh.

This research will investigate the relationship among disasters, migration and resulting environmental change in south-west coastal area of Bangladesh. The focus will be on individual household’s adaptation strategies in the aftermath of cyclone events.

• Supervision