Historical analysis of rationalizing South West coastal polders of Bangladesh

Abstract

After more than a decade of meeting the designated objective of increasing productivity in agriculture, the South West coastal polders of Bangladesh have ended up as different man-made disasters. The failure of the polders to deliver the intended outcome is basically attributed to the lack of understanding of their hydro-morphological characteristics, inadequacy in their operation and maintenance, and failure to take into account their social relationship and culture roles. Changes in socioeconomic settings have also forced changes in the designated functions of the polders, but now the emerging context of climate change has become a major issue in rationalizing the coastal polders. In this context, this study is an attempt to review the historical and ongoing process of rationalization of the South West coastal polders, revealing that it is essential to take an integrated view of the hydrologic cycle and the interactions of human interventions. Finally, this paper recommends that an extended cost-benefit analysis with a multi-objective focus or a multi-criteria analysis, if monetizing is not possible, should be an option in rationalizing this multi-functional infrastructure. Proper macro-planning would require development of an institution capable of dealing with a task which is multi-dimensional and multidisciplinary in nature.

Bringing in the floods : a comparative study on controlled flooding in the Dutch, Bangladesh and Vietnamese deltas

“…The following chapters will be more specific and go into the details of the respective initiative for restored controlled flooding under scrutiny. Controlled flooding initiatives have been identified and studied in, among other regions, the Rhine-Meuse delta (see for the Netherlands Van Staveren et al [2014] and Warner [2008a], for Belgium Cox et al [2006] and Maris et al [2007], and for Germany Becker, Huitema, & Aerts [2015] and Hartmann [2010]), the Sacramento-San Joaquin delta in California, United States (Bates & Lund, 2013;Suddeth, 2011), the Thames delta in the United Kingdom (Eden & Tunstall, 2006), the Bangladesh's Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna delta (Nowreen, Rashed Jalal, & Khan, 2013;) and the…”

“…Over the years, river profiles improve as well as the height of the land, which is then taken into cultivation again (4). (Biggs, 2010;Ghosh, 2004;Iqbal, 2010;Nienhuis, 2008) Solid historical background, focus on water and flood management, of the deltas where case studies were conducted International examples of controlled flooding projects (Bates & Lund, 2013;Becker et al, 2015;Cox et al, 2006;Eden & Tunstall, 2006;Hartmann, 2010;Maris et al, 2007;Nowreen et al, 2013;Suddeth, 2011;Warner, 2008a) Relevance of the topic, insights in different case findings, information to base delta case selection Case-based project documentation Noordwaard de-poldering project (Projectbureau Noordwaard, 2009), Tidal River Management studies (Nowreen et al, 2013;A. Rahman, 1995;Rashid & Detailed understanding of (past) water and flood management projects or initiatives Rahman, 2010), Mekong controlled floods (Benedikter, 2013;Huu, 2011;Miller, 2003) Long-term policy plans Dutch Delta Plans (Delta Committee, 2008;Van Veen, 1962), Bangladesh Delta Plan (Consultant Team BanDuDeltAS, 2014), Mekong delta plans (NEDECO, 1993;Netherlands Delta Development Team, 1974; Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Kingdom of the Netherlands, 2013), see also (Miller, 2003;Seijger et al, 2016) Background of long-term policy plan formulation Policy studies (Benedikter, 2013;Dewan, 2012;Käkönen, 2008;Rashid & Rahman, 2010;Van der Brugge, 2007) Analysis of policy change in water and flood management in the respective d...…”

“…Also flood diversion (fully rerouting floods) or designating flood bypasses (floodplains parallel to a river spreading out flood water) are concepts that fit this category (Duel, Ellis Penning, Haasnoot, & Klijn, 2003). Seasonal controlled flooding can be practiced for agricultural irrigation purposes (Ehlert, 2012), while multi-annual initiatives have been found where tidal flooding is pursued in conjunction with capturing sediment (Nowreen et al, 2013). Controlled flooding initiatives that are more permanent in nature (see footnote 1) are not considered here.…”

Impacts of climate change on coastal ecosystems of Bangladesh

“…WWF (2010) mentioned if actions to increase resilience of the Sundarbans are not initiated soon, Panthera tigris tigris of the Introduction 6 direct conflict with crop agriculture. Shrimp farming has not only damaged agriculture but also agro-forestry, fisheries, livestock and physical infrastructures (Nowreen et al 2014). In addition, salinization leads to extreme drinking water scarcity for about 6.2 million people in this region (Abedin et al, 2014).…”

“…Several studies focused on climate change as the key grounds for salinity increase (Mahmuduzzaman et al 2014;Mondal et al 2013;Singh 2001). Others focused on the infrastructural developments (Moly et al 2015;Mirza 1997) and a few highlighted important socio-economic processes (Nowreen et al 2014;Deb 1998). However, local, regional and global drivers and their variations and interactions should be assessed to improve our understanding of the impact of environmental changes and the consequences for large scale adaptation planning.…”